Dying Comes With Lying
by Wonderlust Of A Lost Girl
Summary: Emma, Cleo, and Bella are the best friends Rikki Chadwick left behind; when she mysteriously disappeared over a year ago. These mermaids like to lie, and an anonymous evil messenger is sure to make them pay, but first will lead them to the horrific truth.
1. Prologue: The Night That Changed Lives

**Dying Comes With Lying**

**[by WillowSuzzaGleeee]**

**Summary: This series follows the lives of Emma, Cleo, and Bella in their first College year; visiting a dark past of lies, secrets and mysteries of the time Rikki disappeared. Now someone is impersonating all her knowledge and wit by threatening messages signed so eerily; R.**

**A/N: So, before anything else; I'd like to say thanks an epic-ton to H2O4ever for giving me the permission to write this. She started the amazing idea of the H2O girls put into a mysterious little world the liars of Pretty Little Liars live in. So, after you check this out; you must, simply MUST go check her own chambers of lying mermaids! And now your mystery awaits:**

**[LAST A/N MESSAGE BY UNREAL ENTITY: WRITTEN BY ME AND FOR PURPOSES OF THE STORY].  
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**PREMIERE PLOT GOES PARTLY TO PRETTY LITTLE LIARS BY SARA SHEPARD.**

**Prologue:**

_Everything was almost movie-like that night. Cleo was hosting a annual Full Moon sleepover and she felt excitement wallow up in their spirits. Well…Cleo and Bella's spirits. It was the start of Summer after their Senior Year, and Cleo and Bella were discussing all the epic moments of the last few weeks. _

_Cleo gushed about Lewis and how disappointing yet exciting news of him being kicked out of his College. It was shocking; how could Lewis, her geeky cute soul mate have ever done something to get him kicked out of College? The only promising surprise was the thrill he'd be joining Cleo, Bella, Will and Rikki in their housing promise._

_High School was now over. And the girls had made a pact. They would stay in touch in such an easy way; they would rent their own college-house of sweets and dissolve into laughter and heartbreaks of the next years of the future. Of course, right now Cleo and Bella were admitting to each other the small jolts of fear they received when starting to ponder what would happen when they shared a house with their boyfriends. Both Bella and Cleo were anxious having said they had never gone there before._

"_Oh, puh-lease for Goodness Sake! You two are going to be getting around like the plague! College Parties, anyone? I can bet some sick things are going to go down there! In fact, I know some pretty sick things happen at _High School _parties!" Bella and Cleo gave each other a look. Rikki had finally peered away from her phone; which she had been typing repulsively on all night. Her eyes glowed a sense of knowledge over them._

_Cleo gulped. So Rikki had…? Cleo knew the fellow candidate. She must have had sex with Zane. The thought disgusted Cleo. But it made sense; Zane Bennett was a bad boy, even after his supposed change of ways for Rikki. Cleo felt bad for Rikki, and also appalled. Did Rikki not find it useful to tell her two best friends when it had happened?_

"_Oh so little miss immoral has gotten to it?" Bella squeaked. An odd kind of anger was threatening at Cleo's throat. Rikki had gotten intimate with a guy… It wasn't just that she hadn't told them, but…how could Rikki? That was only to be shared with someone you loved… Cleo's thoughts were shattered by Rikki's mocking voice._

"_You really think you should be talking, Bella…?" Bella went silent. Cleo stared at each girl's face. Cleo had no idea what they were even talking about. Why did Bella look so devastated? It was time for a conversation-changer._

_Bella gave Rikki a death-glare._

"_So, Rikki; you seem to be in the addiction-worthy category for your texting habits. Who do you find so attractive in fake-conversation skills?" Cleo asked with a bit of jealous paranoia sweeping through her veins._

"_Oh…it's a mystery…" Rikki giggled while Cleo and Bella just looked at each other with questions. "You'll see soon enough. I have huge things planned for tonight. This day…will mark my history. Nothing will ever be the same again."_

_Bella and Cleo shared a glance with each other. That sounded huge. Rikki had always been ironic; with everything she said, there was an ultimate meaning and a hidden story behind it. This day would mark a dreaded apocalypse in the mermaid's confusing world. After this night passed; Bella and Cleo wondered if what Rikki had said had such a destructive ultimate meaning. _

"_Can you believe we're going to College! This is going to be the best time of our lives!" Cleo's heart sputtered. Cleo actually was as naive to think nothing could ruin the summer of the rest of their lives. At the moment, Cleo had believed Rikki was just excited for their new lives in the real world; their final sleepover before they would start getting settled in the house Bella and Will reckoned was to die for and creating their College Life. Even if they all weren't going to the same universities, or to one at all in Rikki's case._

"_Ah, right; Cleo, you must be thrilling at the thought of ditching your friends to try out for a sorority and getting oh-super-duper close with a bunch of…What do they call it? Sisters. Right." Rikki's eyes shone vibrantly in cruelness. Cleo gulped. She hadn't. That had never happened._

"_Everyone knows they'll share all their…beauty tips." Rikki slurred._

_A thundering silence pounded the room. Bella stared off in space and thought with little dignity. Cleo looked down at her well pedicured feet and bit her lip. And Rikki sat in the middle of them; a smirk concealing all of their secrets._

"_So; I say its time for a little fun! And I brought just the stuff!" Rikki left her two gutted friends and went through her gothic-sleepover-bag. She pulled out a large bottle of champagne._

_Rikki smiled. "Care to make a toast?" She referred to both Bella and Cleo. They shrugged. But just like that; Rikki sunk them in to her aura of charming darkness._

_They poured the champagne into cocktail glasses without even so much of a peep of objection from Cleo. Cleo knew Rikki wouldn't stop._

_Rikki had changed in the past year. She was no longer the fiery passionately-driven-for-odd-beliefs best friend of Cleo and Emma. She had made a transformation to a stubborn strange yet intriguingly alluring bitch. Cleo knew it was bad of her to say that because maybe, at least in the beginning; Cleo had thought Rikki was just growing up._

_But then after the _Charlotte_ mishappening, after her break-up with Zane, after her water-tentacle connection; all these things led up to Rikki never being the same. She started disappearing from their clique. But maybe that had been okay. Sometimes, the worst times were when Rikki was actually with them. She said odd little comments that shattered Bella or Cleo to awkward silence. Rikki was even more so secretive after that; yet she knew so much about both Bella and Cleo._

_Sometimes, Cleo was afraid of Rikki. What would happen if Rikki would tell anyone about certain happenings…it would be only dark tales of their friendship after that._

_But somehow; Rikki's witty banter was back after those two icky-feeling comments. And they gushed about Graduation Day; how it again would mark history, the fact that Lewis was back for good, the enchantments of having their own house together [sharing rent of course]; as Bella and Will had already picked the perfect location and perfect adorably College-Friendly House. Perhaps, they had all gotten a wee bit drunk. It turned out Rikki had another wine bottle in her bags. And then another. The three girls got halfway through the third one and were in the crisis of dancing to the sounds of ear torture on iTunes when a knock of eeriness thudded on Cleo's front door._

_Cleo's Dad and Sam had went away on a romantic-bliss of some sort, on some type of halfway anniversary. It was sweet; they loved each other so much they couldn't even wait for their real one year anniversary. It kind of annoyed Cleo in a way. But now someone was knocking on her door. It couldn't be Kim; she was at her own sleepover with her pathetic little friends. Cleo had specifically told Lewis she wanted it to just be the girls because it was their last Full Moon Sleepover. And it was good. Full Moons didn't affect them anymore._

_It was strange; that night, both Bella and Cleo had been feeling jumpy. Now a mystery awaited them at the door. Rikki looked at both of them with a "Anyone-going-to-get-that?" face. Finally, Rikki pranced up and over to the door. Cleo took descriptive notice of her fishnet stockings and then the mini-dress of black veil material over a gothic-styled white dress. Rikki's style had changed as well. But she always gave the look of beauty; confident, strange, cruel, or the worst the beauty of a damsel._

_Moonlight shone in as Rikki opened the door to reveal the dark night and nothing else. Cleo peered away. She felt even of this eve where they had conquered what they always believed to be a duel between mermaids and the Moon; the moonlight seemed poisonous. Especially with no comforting face to go along with it._

"_Is anyone there!" Bella shouted and drifted towards the door herself. The porch was empty. Rikki stared off into the night with a glare of fear. Rikki was never afraid of anything._

"_Rikki?" Cleo asked with unfamiliar instinct. She felt she was walking on eggshells and pretty soon she would find the bomb._

_Rikki was slowly turning away from staring out into the night and had shut the front door when a cackling shriek shattered the dark night._

"_SURPRISE!" Bella and Cleo shivered with frightening glee. They both turned to see a magnificently beautiful Emma Gilbert. Rikki made a cat-hairball sound and looked to the floor; anger seizing her eyes._

_Cleo went static. "Emma! Ohmygosh! You look so gorgeous!" She couldn't help but sputter. Emma was tanned in a natural way; her hair had gotten put into an adorable little up-do, and her eyes shone of enchantment. _

_Bella gave Emma an award-winning smile. She had heard all about Emma from Cleo._

"_It's so amazing to meet you! Cleo and…" Bella looked at Rikki. Rikki's eyes pierced into Emma's; anger and fear spewing. She couldn't speak but her face was grinded in hate._

_Bella shook her head, choosing to ignore Rikki's weird reaction._

"_They've told me so much about you! I'm Bella…the other mermaid." Bella smiled brightly and waited for an exchange of some sort between her and Emma._

_Emma looked around in confusion. "Another mermaid? I…" Her eyes went over Rikki's angry vomit of dispute. "Wow. Um, its great to meet you!" Suddenly, Emma went out to give Bella a huge warming hug._

"_Whatever are you doing here!" Cleo shrieked. She couldn't lie; it was a tad strange Emma or someone else had knocked on her door and then when answered; no one showed. Now Emma had found another way in. "And how'd you get in?"_

"_Oh, you know I still remember where your extra keys are; I came in through the back." Cleo and Bella both smiled at Emma with a feeling of plastic. "I…I just came to visit. We just must keep in touch with friends…right, Rikki?"_

_Rikki's eyes returned from her trance of hate. Now they squeezed in disgust. The music was still blaring from their drunken dancing. Rikki, without a word, went to the radio station to turn it off. They were returned to shocking silence._

"_Aw, so important. But I thought we were clear on our contact arrangement. I don't know about you; but I certainly know all that's been going around here…and there." Rikki was snarling. Poison darts wavered out of her eyes._

_Bella gave Cleo a look of confusion. Rikki had chose not to ever speak about Emma. Cleo remembered the exact moments things had become icky with Emma and Rikki. It had been after Charlotte's…accident. At least, that's what Rikki, Emma, Cleo, and Lewis swore to call it… But that was over. Charlotte was gone._

_Emma just trilled with a funky-out-of-place smile. "Oh Rikki, darling; you look absolutely stunning tonight; Doesn't she…? Cleo, Bella? It'd be a shame to see anyone destroy dark perfection…"_

_A vibe of chills encircled Cleo's spine. Both Rikki and Emma had auras of confident and very secretive destroyer looks._

_Finally, Rikki hissed; "Emma; I would like to see you outside." Emma giggled and looked at Bella and Cleo._

"_But; Rikki; you are the one that finds friendship so important…why can't our practically sisters hear whatever it is you wish to tell me?" Bella looked at Cleo, thoughts inkling that Emma had to be drunk. Something was completely irrational about her._

"_Emma. Get out. Now." Rikki pointed to the door. Cleo could almost see tears fumble in her eyes. Emma just shrugged and went out into the dark. Rikki gave us one more look after mumbling, "You are not ruining this for me."_

_A lot of things were ruined that night._

_After Emma and Rikki left; Bella and Cleo stared at each other sheepishly. Cleo didn't know where to begin; to explain that this was not your typical Emma. And Bella didn't know how to start a conversation describing her thoughts on Emma, when they were so odd._

_Bella and Cleo would wait there for a long time. Three hours in fact. So, finally they drifted off to sleep; they're dreams were not bliss but of nightmares. Both imagined a mermaid being pulled out of her own destiny. They never knew Rikki would never come back to Cleo's house. She'd never walk on the Gold Coast's beach sand ever again. She'd never start giggling uncontrollably in such a fit in mockery of the ones she called her besties. She'd never take them shopping. She would never deem more inappropriate behavior on them anymore. But mostly, she'd never speak of their secrets ever again. Or at least that was what Bella and Cleo wished to believe after her disappearance. _

_. . ._

_ Only the night ever saw what happened to Rikki Chadwick. And even then it was scarcely enough to explain in practical ways. The truth was, Rikki and Emma's angered voices echoed Cleo's front yard that night. They were in a hideous entity of a fight that led all the way to the docks._

_ Only darkness surrounded the lies and misfortune of that night. There was a girl with long blonde hair staring at the sky with drunken laughter. There was another girl with a beautiful mess of blonde curls who dived into the ocean. The straight-haired blonde followed after her. Only one would be seen again. The rest remains a mystery to this day._

**A/N: **_**That, my fellow adorers could be known as the end of these lying mermaid's secrets. Perhaps you believe they would grief Rikki and move on with their lives admitting that the truth would never be found…but mysteries are there to be solved. And I just might have to inspire these bitches to come to their senses and find the lost loophole…one that I know they can remember if they'd get off their asses and think. But encouragement is a tricky thing; everyone knows you need a tough coach. And I plan to use these mermaid's dirty little lies to find the truth. Kisses. –R**_

**Review. xoxo. **


	2. Premeire KickOff: Aftermath

**Dying Comes With Lying**

**[by: WillowSuzzaGleeeee]**

**A/N: Thank you for the lovely inspiring reviews. Where would the world be without inspiration? NO WHERE. So, I love you all in a very amazing writer-reviewer way and I like to check out my reviewer's own epicness [That's a hint I'm sort of like a Review For Review type of chick-erm, girl] So review your hearts out on the first official chapter: "Dying Comes With Lying" because you know it's true!**

**BTW: I've realized Australia doesn't have sororities/fraternities in College. But it's necessary to the story and Cleo's character development so it will stay. Credit to EpicFantasyStories's obsession with Greek, Private [although; not a real sorority, they might as well be], and some movie I watched…some time ago for the sorority-pizazz. +This is actually their SECOND College Year…So it is- One Year & Three Months Later.**

**The dead they sleep a long, long sleep; The dead they rest, and their rest is deep; The dead have peace, but the living weep. ~Samuel Hoffenstein **

**Emma's POV:**

I didn't realize it all throughout the morning. My alarm had chirped an excruciating long and tender-eared beep; and as my eyes opened; I felt the feelings of a regular lonely summer-college day. A day of Emma Gilbert.

I hopped out of bed in my jammies; a sluttish if not wearing to bed by yourself look of a tank top and a short shorts. I looked once again over my vaguely empty dorm room. The walls were still plastered white. I hung only one picture up; one of Cleo, _Rikki, _and I taken in our Junior Year of High School. Other then the bed and the cabinets that held my stuff; the room was barren. I still hadn't gotten a roommate from the Front Office. Maybe they avoided me as if I was the Plague, like everyone else.

As I took my time to swallow up a refreshing energy bar and a gulp of energizing water; I stared out the windows at the sunny day awaiting me. I had an over-organized schedule just like the old Emma I tried to be. After I took my swig of water, my refreshments of a quick healthy snack; I reported straight to the gym and would go through rotations of healthy exercise until going to the dreaded area; the girls bathroom which was shared by all the girls of my hall. Then, I would go to swim training and practice at the least three hours in the morning; then I would head to my book club at the College's Library. Today we were having a discussion over The Bad Seed. After that I liked to head up to the café's that bordered my College Campus. Still, all alone, the food was delicious. After that I liked to make some me-time. In this time I wrote deliciously opinionated articles for the newspaper. In the off chance I didn't have writing to do; I watched an old film or read away in the long list of books I had never finished. In the afternoon-ish evenings, I would take long strolls down the park nearby. After that I liked to visit eco-friendly or charity-exciting organizations where I helped the less or in some rare cases more fortunate people. After that; I would go to the College Café and eat my heart out, proudly. Then I'd get a long nice time of sleep, after updating my blog, of course. And that was my summer schedule. It would all start changing in two days when my College Courses started. Sure I didn't necessarily need to practice swimming and write articles but it was good for my soul.

I was in the university's very talked about and important swimming team. It's a bit of a fog on how I turned human again… I would like to say that when traveling; however unright it felt to watch my family be forced to explore the world because of our family's…secrets; I had found another Moon Pool and on a Night of the Full Moon, Jupiter, and Venus all aligned; it had caused a distortation turning me completely human again. But that wasn't the case. I had researched and the Full Moon aligned with Venus and Jupiter on the exact night Rikki…disappeared. After that night, I was not a mermaid.

With my small regards in Journalism; Swimming was supposed to be my whole future. I was supposed to bond once again with my fellow swimming colleagues and have some actual friends in College, but I couldn't. Not when there was this huge hole in my heart burning for the truth about what happened to Rikki that night.

The exact moments of these thoughts, I opened my dorm door ready to get down on a treadmill and go through the torturous friend of push-ups when the newspaper flied at me. I shuddered a gasp; paranoia always swept through me whenever something unexpected happened.

I bent over to pick it up and sat down on my ass, shocked wide eyes, and a mouth of an O. The paper showed a picture of…Rikki in only her dark bra and underwear with bruises scarring along her arms, and legs. A painful hurt devastated Rikki Chadwick face met me. I gasped as my eyes scurried the print for an explanation.

_Rikki Chadwick, the eighteen year old who mysteriously vanished in the Summer of 2010, has now been traced to multiple erotic porn websites. Seeing these photographs and videos; detectives conclude this was not a consensual choice for young Chadwick. In videos they've discovered she is very clearly making it known she did not consent whoever holds the camera and was involved in her relations. Police are still looking into this found news and haven't commented on rather the rape films are connected to her disappearance or not._

I couldn't breathe. This was the first lead they had discovered in a year. And it felt so deathly surreal. Looking at the hurt crying girl in the picture; I couldn't believe it was Rikki. When had this happened? It looked like the Sophomore Rikki I had known. The nice in an odd way best friend of mine…after Cleo, and us had become mermaids. Had there been signs? Who would hurt her like this? And could they…take, or, perhaps kill her? Had I seen them that night?

I traced the carpet with tears. If only I could remember that night. It had been a full moon and my family had been in New Zealand. I knew that was a terrible disaster waiting to happen; being so close to Mako and the friends I left behind on a Full Moon. But my parents insisted. I remember Mum and Dad were hosting a charity fundraiser for starving kids or something reasonable like that. I had been hiding in my room with the windows covered with black covers. It wasn't until I came back to Cleo's house after following Rikki; I realized I had been moonstruck. And I had no idea what happened and if I had witnessed what really happened to Rikki, or worse, if I had something to do with it.

But I knew the Moon wouldn't make me hurt a former best friend, no matter how twisted our past was; the Moon didn't like to turn us away from each other…excluding that one time when Rikki swore she was meant to be alone on her first Full Moon…but…but that had been different. It just killed me inside that I could never remember what happened. What had happened in those lost three hours? Had Rikki died? Had I seen?

I flipped the newspaper over looking for more clues of knowledge that forced me to believe some sick person hurt Rikki; not me. But the rest of the paper dulled on about the economy, sickness, and other things I would be bothered with in Journalism two days from now. Suddenly, a paper fell from the creases of Sports and Entertainment. I shivered.

Slowly I picked it up and read the messy letters:

_**Meet me up at Rikki's Café at 3pm. We need to talk.**_

__I took a deep breath and searched for a name, initials, something. But that's all there was. I sighed. There had to be some reasonable explanation for this anonymous note. Truth be told; I didn't have time for a mysterious meeting with a nameless soul. But they knew enough to connect the newspaper with Rikki's Café. I hadn't done one thing interesting or riveting all summer. Honestly, all College Freshmen Year… I was too scared. Interesting could turn to fatally dangerous so quickly. I knew enough.

Then there was the 'We need to talk' order. That was never friendly sounding on paper. And staring at Rikki's swollen surrendering face in the paper; I had to throw it out this instant. I would not remember her as a girl who got abused. The Rikki, I knew; The Rikki we all knew never let anyone tell her what to do.

And when she got angry; for something incredibly huge; she never forgave you.

I remember the worst night of my life to this day. It wasn't the night Rikki went missing; I didn't remember that. But it was the night we hurt Charlotte, however accidental it had seemed. Or…maybe it wasn't accidental. I had known what I was capable of, and Rikki had just tried to stop me. And then Charlotte had paid for it. Those nights were an exact year apart; yet they seemed too connected by the legacy Rikki left behind.

I had never meant to hurt either of them. Not really. But now Charlotte was in a blind hospital. Rikki is still missing in a disappearance that will most likely never be resolved. It seemed I was poisonous of disaster; a toxic mermaid…who was so toxic; she wasn't even a mermaid anymore.

What led me to cancel my plans with meeting with the environmental club to save fish reserves; and meet up with the person feeling so strongly about our communication is still unknown. I would say I went to visit my parents; which I hadn't done in a year. But like so many decisions in life; you have to go with your gut instinct. Or, if you don't have one; you can always play Eenie-Meeny-Miny-Mo.

. . .

I had thrown the paper out, washed up, and now here I was. Rikki's Café was an hour and a half away from my Redleaf's Campus and seeing the letters drawn as if she was a living happy part-owner of the place…as if she were still here; I knew I shouldn't have come.

It still irked me. Why had the new owners decided to stay with the name Rikki's? Even when they knew she had disappeared? Zane's father had sold it to a group of adults who were much more likely to keep it in business for more than just a year. But they had kept the name. Almost like they wanted us to feel haunted.

I never knew if Rikki's Café was any good. It felt pretty ridiculous even now to consider a café Rikki's. Had Rikki had memories here that clued into her disappearance?

Cleo and Bella had sworn they would never tell the police I was the last knowledgeable person to see Rikki that night. We all knew that the real me wouldn't have done anything to Rikki. I wouldn't have even been there that night. So why would we speak of things where only magic had willed it? It wasn't real. I had no clue where Rikki went, so why would we tell the police that I did?

"Hun?" I was shaken away from my thoughts. A red-haired girl with a brilliant smile gloated at me.

"Um, yeah..? I'm sorry I was just about to go in. I was just remembering some memories." Why had I added that?

"Oh, I just wanted to tell you it's our Happy Hour! We have one dollar off every drink you buy!" She advertised with such practice.

I smiled and nodded.

I quickly put my head to the ground and scurried to the doors. The place looked so happy. It was hard to believe Rikki could have partly owned such an enigmatic lovely place. Everyone wore a smile. They sipped their drinks and cackled in hearty laughter. Rainbows covered the wall and floor, and a band was playing cheap sounding music.

Had it been gothic and depressing after Rikki's mystery? Or before?

I decided to wade myself by the bar. Whoever wanted to speak with me better have a good plan on what to say after I screeched at him, wondering why in the world he had to be so mysterious.

The bartender asked me if I wanted a drink. I was about to on habit say; No. I was only at the young months of twenty. But then, I smiled and nodded. "I'd love a Martini…vodka style?" I blushed and the girl just nodded swiftly. I looked to my conscience. It was only three o'clock and I could very possibly get drunk. Oh well, I'd call a cab.

In the remaining moments I found the poster that seemed to forever been plastered on the Café's expressive walls. It read: RIKKI CHADWICK. MISSING. WOULD BE 19. In the middle was a photograph of a smiling annoyingly-beautiful Rikki. I was sure enough the picture was probably taken in a time where Rikki was relatively drunk; but maybe that made her look even more beautiful…in such eerie and dark ways.

"Hello, stranger." The familiar voice threatened my insanity as I gasped. I turned around to be face to face with…Ash Dove. I opened my mouth, but only complete surprised stuttering came out.

"Ash! Ohmygosh! You're…You're…. What the hell are you doing here?" I was suddenly all smiles and giggles. Ash had gone away to College a year before I had so we ended up leaving The Gold Coast at the same time. We had never officially told each other where we had left off. We said we would still talk, yet we hadn't. Maybe it was because I was too involved in trying to find a way for Rikki to forgive me…

Ash smirked. I realized the old Emma didn't say things like that. But his eyes hinted he knew the old Emma was gone and he was ready to meet the new one.

"I'm starting a transfer to Redleaf Uni…starting tomorrow!" I gasped. I went to Redleaf. And Ash had only decided to tell me a day before he started…?

"That's…amazing! I go there too!" I blushed. "I have an empty dorm…but I don't think they'd allow me to bring such a devilishly attractive man stay with me…" I raised my right eye, and then went into a fitful of overactive smiling.

Ash looked speechless and then he chuckled. So much for surprises. I had changed so much since the last time he saw me.

"What are you majoring in?" I asked with real genuine curiosity.

"Horseback and Business." I nodded. This was expected.

"I've got this vision of having my horseback program for blind children." Ash added with an itch.

My mouth couldn't say what my expressed feelings were. I was happy for him. He had his eyes set on the future. And he knew what he wanted. I was one step into the water, one step out. I just ended up clapping like a retarded seal.

"So, what are you majoring in?" He asked with intrigued eyes.

I liked this. In fact, I loved this. He was interested and he actually cared about what I was doing. That hadn't happened in a long time. Not since Cleo and Bella started adding odd little questions, wondering about what happened with Rikki and I that night. And then, they flat-out ignored me, and each other.

"Well…um," Then I remembered. He had known about my mermaidness. I couldn't tell him I wasn't one anymore. He'd ask how, and then I'd have to go on about the complicated mystery that still surrounded Rikki and I's last scenes that Full Moon, that I didn't even remember. It would ruin the moment.

"Journalism." I answered with a grin. I knew he would find out soon enough. Everyone at Redleaf raved about the high-competing-swimmers. And Ash would soon see me in a pool without a tail…but that time would be later. I wanted to live in the moment. Rikki had taught me, moments were too precious.

"Wow! That's great! You always seemed like you'd be a brilliant writer!" Blushes, of all the irritating blushes!

"Thanks, Ash!" I was about to add, 'I just know your life will be amazing' but it felt forlorn. That was implying mine wouldn't be. And that was something Emma Gilbert never did in her right mind. She was confident, sensible, and sure-of-herself in no snotty way. Oh, but how the currents had turned…

My mouth was about to sputter out, 'Why'd you want to meet here, of all places?' when he started peering to the colorful walls. Where the black and white photograph and captions of Rikki haunted. I swallowed something in the back of my throat.

"It's too unreal, isn't it?" Ash glanced back at me. His dark hair was now more spiky in a smooth way. He referred to Rikki's happy smile twisted by the word MISSING.

"Yeah…" I looked at my hands. I tried to remember a time where Rikki had told me that I was her best friend, that she loved Cleo and I; something…but Rikki didn't say or do things like that. She knew it wouldn't make everything better if you promised your loved ones you'd always care for them. Because caring didn't matter in the end. Fate did.

The bartender came back with my drink. I took the glass and sipped the toxic exotic flavors to my tongue. It was exactly what I needed.

"Did you see the paper today?" I almost suffocated knowing the photograph of Rikki so hauntingly abused would never leave my mind. I would see it in the darkest hours of the night. It would never go away.

"Yes… I can't even imagine anyone even daring to hurt Rikki like that… She was always so strong." I wouldn't meet his eyes. I slowly took another sip of the martini. "She always seemed so…in control." I finished in odd banter.

"Well, yeah; that's just because she put up a tough exterior…really, though…She was probably the least in-control person you knew. She just tried to control you guys so that she'd feel better…" Ash saw my confused expression, and quickly added, "I think…from what I observed about you, Cleo, and…her."

I gulped again…"You'd think they would have found those photos sooner… I still can't believe they don't know where she is…" My voice was a harsh whisper. And it was true. It had been a year and three months. Now it was certain this would always be a cold case.

"Um…Emma…I was…kind of the one, that…" My eyes flashed in horror. Was he going to tell me he killed Rikki? But how? And why? Wait…that wasn't what he was saying at all.

"I found those photographs and videos…I didn't mean to; I was just…" A tint of red could be found on his cheeks, "online, and I saw them. I gave them to the police immediately… At first I couldn't actually believe it was Rikki. You're right; she looked so…lost."

For another moment under Ash's presence; I couldn't speak. I had assumed the police had just uncovered the entities of disgust they had looked over in the original search. But, Ash, had found them…what a terrible position to be in.

"The newspaper didn't really give any hints on who might've done that to her… Who do you…?" Even my voice was shivering. Maybe that was the effects of the martini but my whole body was starting to produce nervous sweat.

"Think it was?" Ash shook his head.

I nodded. I felt angry. It had suddenly impulsed upon me. No one had any right to hurt Rikki like that. And make it public; share her sufferings with the whole word… It was absolutely sick. Had they killed her too? Was she even dead? So many questions I had been trying to forget came back again.

"I've been trying not to wonder. You know? I try not to look at every person I knew Rikki knew and I try not to think, 'Did you hurt my friend?', but it doesn't work. …I'm not supposed to be thinking like that. I'm supposed to grieve and wait for the police to find out…but that isn't working for me…! I think about her every single day. Maybe every single minute… You can't erase memories." I now cried out loud, in a calm unsettling way.

Only you could, if it was a Full Moon. "Does that make sense?"

Ash twitched his lip and nodded in a halfway type of way. It made absolutely no sense except where it counted; in the mind games that followed your hating best friend's disappearance.

He never answered the question.

"I never erased _our_ memories, either." He looked me right in the eyes. I almost coughed up some distinct flavors. I never had either. I remembered everything; our first meeting where he taught Elliot and proved me to be a wickedly horrible horse rider, the sickening thrill when I found out Wilfred had hired him as manager of the Juicenet, our first kiss, the dinners he tried to make me, and then finally when he found out the truth; that I had been a mermaid. They all seemed so careless and long ago, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"I remember…we never really made it clear what our relationship was after I left…" Ash grinned bitterly at me. I probably looked like a nerdy idiot with my twitching eyes and a slight shrug. "But, I know what I wanted it to be…"

"What's that?" I asked with a slight purring ring I hadn't even noticed. I didn't care to say I had left just after him; it seemed too soon. Our eyes seemed to be dulling in and out of each other, and a naughty part of me whispered, 'Your eye-fucking him', but, oh, I didn't care.

"I wanted to be able to look at you right now, scream to the world; 'She loves me!' and carry you all the way to my dorm where every time we'd get away with making love while my mate slept." Burning. I was burning. What had happened to calm, taking-it-slow-as-a-good-boy-should, Ash?

He answered my question. "I learned a few things in my first two years of College. Hardly anything academically-concerning…." He smirked at me in a complete inappropriate bad-influential horny way. But my body longed to be with someone; and Ash was the perfect candidate.

And then the sexy downplay began.

Suddenly, we were racing across the Café in dizzy circles until we found Ash's car. He pulled my hands and arms and suddenly we were inside a messy smelly old car. I could tell it was used but Ash didn't care. He grabbed my jawbone and kissed me roughly, again and again, until he got bored with that. He was about to reach under my shirt when I swatted him away.

"What are you doing?" I shouted. I didn't know I'd be that hideous in uptightness. Rikki would be yet again ashamed. I pulled my shirt up in the exact correct type of prude-ish way and found it hard not to slap Ash. It'd be naïve and stupid to say I thought he only wanted to kiss. I had just thought the Ash I knew would always ask before he removed a girl's clothes…

"Oh, erm, I thought that you wanted…"

I didn't let him go further. "I…It was just a spur of the moment thing, you know? I would never, _ever,"_ I stuck my nose up "have sex with a guy I had just reunited with a few seconds ago…or in a repulsive car…" I shivered in disgust wondering what had made me crawl along with Ash. Oh yeah, that achening beautiful face of charm.

"Right…You're still good little preppy Emma Gilbert." Suddenly Ash wasn't Ash. He was a monster. "I heard some rumors; but I knew they were too good to be true… Good luck with your drinking problem. Now get out of my car. I don't want you now." I stared at him with horrified shock. Moments ago he was helping me out of loneliness and distancing myself from the past. Now he was rejecting me because I had rejected him in the only role he wanted to be.

Anger flushed my cheeks. "What the fuck has happened to you?" I mumbled and grabbed my purse. I couldn't believe I had let my martini go to waste. I slammed his door hard, hoping it would wreck the already wrecked car of his. I couldn't even deal with him. Hopeless perv…that was what Ash now was. Had he just been lying with all the sensitive stuff before the car-incident? How many girls had he been with when we hadn't been officially broken up as we'd never been?

I wanted to vomit out words that would destroy him…or violence. Either would work.

I realized I would need to call a cab, and go back to my sad bitter empty room of loneliness. I missed my old life. The one of Cleo and Rikki…but that was forever gone.

Suddenly, my phone was buzzing in anxious glee. I sighed, reckoning it would be Simon from the Starving Kids Association. But, when I saw the message; I couldn't even gulp down the remaining sanity.

_**Emma: Bravo to you! You wouldn't want to make our poor mother's mistakes…Would you? But don't think I've forgotten what you've done. I will be watching. I'll always be watching. -R**_

I stood there for thirty minutes, trying to convince myself it wasn't real. This was all just some retarded dream. But when, I snapped away my phone and buried it away in my purse with the rest of my lies; I still didn't believe it. It was signed so obviously and hauntingly. R. At that time I believed I knew who R had to stand for. It didn't make any other sense. Perhaps it never would.

. . .

**Cleo's POV:**

** "**_I know a girl. She's a beauty queen She rocks the scene. Uh-oh. All over the world; People stop and stare. She's everywhere" _A series of girl cackling hysteria clouded the sound waves of the entire room.

I smiled at my adorable rosy reflection. I was the idol of beauty; my natural complexion of tan, my soul-sinking brown eyes zooming of glamour, and the adornment of fabric placed on my body showing a short ruffled pink mini-dress complete with thigh-high pink polka-dotted stocking-socks. I wanted to hug myself and spin around in a circle with such admiration.

Outside of the petite small, but exclusive dressing rooms; were the masses of the girls of Redleaf's most prestigious sorority. They were in the fluttering of quick changes and rapid self-esteem issues followed by attempted jokes.

"Ohmygosh; I look fat! I look fat! Don't I, Tiffany?" A mindless body screeched at the mirror as I smoothed my perfection.

"Of course not. You look drop-dead stunning!" Tiffany replied with fake enthusiasm. I giggled. That was still Tiffany; the ex-Miriam-follower who still sucked up to whatever bitch seemed helpful that week...or second. I should know; she was my roommate.

Finally; I waltzed out to get paraded with different girls busting for a changing room instead of changing out here in open. My eyes scurried over them briefly; any time longer would be just weird. Tiffany smiled and clapped her heart out!

"Cleo; you look fantastic! Lewis is so going to do you tomorrow night…" I blushed and looked down. As miserable as it sounded; I was still a…virgin. And, perhaps a part of me still wanted to wait; Lewis and I had gotten distant. He was sick of how I was always busy with the girls, or at some social gathering. He didn't understand how it was important to me...or how important it should be. He wasn't in a fraternity; he shouldn't talk.

I wavered a sign of forbidden bitterness that should not have been allowed when I was out about with Tiffany, Renee, Ashlee, Sari, and too many other girls to count. Today had been weird. I had woken up and suddenly I was an ax-killer of some sort. So many girls stared at me with twisted smiles. As if they shouldn't know to pity me, or leave me in a state of absolute no trustworthiness possible. Tiffany was still yet to tell me what was going on.

She was still babbling about Lewis. Jeez.

"I wonder why he hasn't already…I guess popping cherries gets him scared…" I wanted to cough out breakfast suddenly. Way to be crude, Tiffany! "I can't believe I ever liked him…" I looked to the floor.

"Not meaning he's weird in anyway…but, damn; he is. I mean…Cleo; as your best friend; I must say you've been a little slow on the maturing stage. We are going to meet the fresh meat at tomorrow's gathering! We should have already broken hearts, gone all night, and spiked some guy's drink for the hell of it!" She was right…well, excluding, perhaps, the second one…and third one…and first.

"I know. I know. Don't push me. I just believe…real…real _love," _The word taste rotten on my tongue, "can wait."

Tiffany cackled as did all the other girls around us. Most of the time, I loved our sorority. We would oath to be best friends and we were the coven of memories. Dad and Sam were brilliantly excited when I told them too. Kim had just responded with a, "Don't only pretty girls live in sororities?" but that was Kim being nice. My family was just glad I was focusing on something else…something other than Rikki's disappearance.

I still wonder to this day; if it would have been better. If Rikki was still here, and Bella, Will, Lewis, her, and I would have shared the house so simply and in a state of no proving your sisterhood by hazings, wicked scams, and torturous pranks; but by being bonded by an uncontrollable amazing secret; If we hadn't parted ways, would I have been happier with Rikki there still able to hold all my lies against me?

I shuddered. The moments of the summer, of my first year at Red Leaf, and then these three past months where Renee let me in on their own secrets of torture for the fresh meat… They had all breezed by. Throughout the bitch-slaps of mentality and physical, the cries Renee and the seniors had caused of other girls; to me, it meant nothing compared to the real world. In the real world, people got really hurt for reasons still unknown. In the real world, people disappeared and never returned. It seemed what Rikki could have done to me was so much more than what Renee had ever pried doing to me. That was one of the reasons I was still slept in the sorority house at night. I hadn't cared about goofy girl trouble and if I got caught. There were so many worse things out there…but Rikki had on so many occasions made it known I would most likely adore the privileged sorority life. She'd probably been mocking me in _that_ email. But I held it to the heart.

I sighed as their mocking giggles came to an end.

We were now shopping, or more or less, _stealing _[in certain people's cases] for the perfect dress for the social gathering of the party before the first official day of my Sophomore College Year started.

Suddenly, Renee, with her trail of Ashlee and Sari, strutted towards me with a judgmental smirk. She inspected me up and down. "Suitable, for now. But you're going to have to straighten your hair a bazillion times better than your lacking experience all summer!"

I bit my lip. Appearances had been brought to a lower level after Rikki disappeared. They were all lies. That was one thing Rikki taught me.

I was about smile in relief as Renee, Ashlee, and Sari were walking past me, when Renee turned around. "And, Cleo? Sisters don't like to see other sisters sad. So knock this shit off about your ex-best-friend's murder, or whatever? The fresh meat do not need to see this as an example. Understand?"

I was about to open my mouth and stutter that Rikki hadn't been murdered…officially, but Renee was already walking away. Ashlee strutted on, but Sari gave me a quick pathetic attempt of a smile. I just twitched my lips back.

Tiffany pushed me. "Come on, Cleo! We're going to the Blue Moon!" She grabbed my hand and we followed the glow of spontaneous normal sorority-cliques.

I watched Tiffany distract the women helping spoiled kids find clothes they didn't need by excusing her of stealing her purse, as she had left it there just this morning. Meanwhile, Renee and Ashlee were in the corner clogging their own purses with unattached jewelry.

I followed up to Sari. She was a new girl, from the States. I didn't know much about her other than the fact Renee and Ashlee accepted her without a price; in the middle of College year. But Sari seemed…nice, at least not a theft. …Like I had once been. I had been so many things once.

I bought my gorgeous dress and it's stockings, with a cringe at the $101.99 . Sari didn't cringe at all. She pulled out her credit card and moved on with life.

"So…Cleo?" I realized we hadn't had a proper conversation as 'sisters' should in the whole time of her being here. It felt strange to hear a voice of blunt American talk.

"Do you understand why they need a thrill when they already have all the perks of sorority-queen highness?" Sari rolled her eyes and took her cash. I just smiled, dull and plain, and added a shake of my head so she didn't believe she was talking to a numb robot.

"All in the College Experience…I guess." I tilted a smile and took notice of her features. She was a petite girl with a huge smile. She seemed to be the tentative quiet ones until she struck gold and gave away all your secrets. Her eyes were a beautiful green and the made her pale face shine. She had long mid-way-back dark hair. She had a style unlike any other. I had realized in my observations of her throughout the months; she never appeared ugly.

"Cleo…I'm sorry about your friend. It must be so difficult to loose someone like that." Wait, _what? _My mouth was about to sputter in hysteria of heartbreak but soon enough Renee, and Ashlee were attaching Sari to their hips, and I was left with used Tiffany. I sighed.

"What…Did anyone tell Sari about…well, about Rikki?" I asked Tiffany. Her eyes fell, I could almost hear her heart thud. She sighed in exasperation of not wanting me to know.

"It was…in the paper, today." Tiffany looked down and moved fast to catch up with them.

"Wait, why? That was over a year ago! And why would they include me in Rikki's…headlines?" I uttered.

"We didn't want you to be depressed. Well, Renee said it was bad for examples, but everyone else felt that you've been through enough the past year or so…and we didn't want to see you smiling even less than you are."

"Oh. Kay." I was still frustratingly baffled. "What does that have to do with Rikki and Sari?"

"The paper… They found some photos of Rikki… That's all I know. I guess Sari isn't too keen on sisterhood promises…" And like that, Tiffany left me with my so controversial 'depression'. Maybe if they actually associated with me like an actual human being…and not like some type of pathetic lowly charity case.

Maybe I was, though. My heart still always skipped a beat when I heard Rikki's name…and for all the wrong reasons.

. . .

Finally, we arrived at Blue Moon, a Brazilian restaurant, complete with a Hot and Cold Bar, strange meat men walking around delivering flavored delights, and huge bill to pay at the end of the night.

We only went to this restaurant three times a year. On this date, to renew our sisterhood and prepare for some new housemates and prey, really, after new acquaintances found their place in the sorority, and then at the end of the year. We had come here in the exact moments of my remembrance of Rikki's…night of changes. But, us sorority girls planned a vacation in New Zealand and partied up…a lot. That had been one depressing vacation for me.

The girls were right. I needed to smile more. I missed smiling. But when I thought of smiles, I thought of laughs, which reminded me of secrets, which hit the all-time core: Rikki. I liked to think she would want me to be happy…wherever she was. And not like her. She would want me to live my life.

I was in the middle of an inkling for a smile when I saw Bella and Will. This caused me to cough in shock. It wasn't Bella who was so shocking. It was the fact they were talking to the police…in the Blue Moon.

I looked to where Tiffany, Renee, Ashlee, and Sari were waiting. Renee rolled her eyes at me. Tiffany bit her lip. Ashlee stared at her phone. And Sari gave a heartfelt smile.

I turned away from them and walked up, or in a more likely case, scurried in manic panic, up to Bella and Will. I had heard they lived together in the house Rikki, Bella, and I planned to share…with Lewis and Will as company…before so much _happened. _

"Bells!" It just frolicked from my mouth in awkward context that caused Bella to give me a "…? Is this bitch talking to me?" look until she realized who I was.

"Cleo! You…You look different, and…glamorous! Wow." Bella gave an artificial smile and redeemed her eyes at the police. Will was uneasy as well. They both gave off looks of unsatisfied fear.

The policewoman gave me a sharp glare.

"This is Cleo Sertori." Bella now scurried to explain.

"She was best friends with…Rikki, as well." I noticed how Will held Bella's hand so tightly. I could almost see tears about to shatter from their eyes. And I was standing there like the clueless hooligan.

"This is all handy-dandy news, but I'm afraid we can't reveal anything about the case until it's proven or in utmost danger. I'm sorry; I'm going to have to ask you all to leave. You will be notified if and when we have more news in this case." The policewoman said with a breeze and left three obnoxious nineteen-twenty-year-olds to utter in mystery.

Bella looked scared. Will looked angry. And I looked wide-eyed shocked. Why hadn't anyone told me the police were going back into the case?

"I can't believe they're calling it a _case,_ " Will spitted. "Like Rikki was never even an actual person…like she wasn't even a soul." He shuddered and stared at Bella's broken eyes.

I bit my lip. _Was _is past tense.

"They're going back into it…? I mean, they're searching all the statements and looking for loopholes…?" I was stunned. I had thought the Rikki mess was over. That I'd never have to really confront what had happened again…but apparently not.

"Yeah." Bella wiped her eyes. "There were pictures found online… They think she was raped…" I stood unable to speak. Only horrendous thoughts shattered my brain. Rikki being taken advantage of… Not possible. It couldn't be. Rikki ruined anyone who messed with her…but someone had messed with her. And she had never been found because of it.

"When? The night she went missing!" My voice still could sound so naïve and of a broken doll's knowledge. I wanted so desperately to know what happened.

"I…don't know." Bella said, her voice cracking. She looked to the ground. "Cleo…Hey, maybe we can catch up? You know…later…? Um…" I gave an accepting-Cleo smile as I saw her nose loosen an itch of snot build-up. She seemed to realize this and covered her nose and swiftly took Will's hand and they were walking out.

Things had gotten screwed up between Bella and I, even Emma and I. Once Rikki vanished; we started seeing each other in different ways. I saw Emma as the strange moon-mad girl who had last seen my best friend…I couldn't help but be suspicious. And Bella… She seemed to take the news Rikki hadn't been found best of all of us at first. But after seeing what I saw today, Bella's role of a breakdown…I knew she wasn't dealing, even after a year, better than any of us.

Will caught my hand before Bella and him left. "She's serious. We should catch up. You can tell us all about land of sororities…and Cleo?" I took a risk of glancing to his eyes. "It doesn't have to be so…different… Rikki disappeared, not our secrets."

I was about to say a gesture of proof, I could find time to, perhaps, visit the house that was never homed to the graduates it should have housed. To prove, Bella and I still remembered the times of High School Senior Year. But Will walked away. Or more so, he was pulled away.

Will had been right. Our secrets, our huge secret, and then the inklings of ones that fell after, had kept us close. Maybe that wasn't right. But if it weren't for our magical gift…or magical curse, we would have never been friends. Rikki would have never hung out with Emma and I. We would had never had that sleepover. And Rikki would have never gone missing. But that was just one secret. There was a million others I could never even dream of knowing a sixteenth of.

As I walked back towards the table where my 'sister's awaited, I noticed their shining smiles of knowledge. Did they honestly need to 'protect' me from the truth? I could handle the fact that my ex-best-friend…and…and well, maybe… My ex-best friend was possibly murdered…and raped. I had been dealing with the murder bit for over a year. Did they see me too childish to accept anything?

I suddenly felt a gagging sensation weed up my throat. I stared at Tiffany and Sari for desperate help before I fled to the bathroom. I ran across the clean tiled floors paying no attention to the disgusted girls disgusting at my disgust, and ran to the toilets. Shocks of yellow-ish speckled with brown vomit poured from my mouth, and I knew what it was. The omelet from this morning. The one with the fatty-inhabited bacon.

But…now I was puking. All the images of the past deluded me. That was over. I had to have been just vomiting from stress this very instant. Nothing else. Slowly, I watched my hand touched the inflamed-with-germs handle and wash the vomit down the drain. Washing my memories down the drain. They were gone. I was slim, confident, if not a little crooked Cleo Sertori. And food and it's haunting couldn't mess with me.

I walked out of the stall and stared at my tan skin, brown inviting eyes, and the beautiful mess of my straight brown locks of the mirror. I was fine. And suddenly, it clicked.

I couldn't live this way anymore. This year was going to be different. I, Cleo Sertori, would do anything and everything to live the rest of my life at it's fullest. I would keep up and for once, _enjoy _my sisterhood I had chosen. I would put Rikki in the back of my heart, never forgetting the impact she had on me, but hoping things happened for a reason…Even if that reason seemed like a deluded mystery. I would get back in touch with old friends, and I would patch things up with Lewis the way things should be at this point in my life.

This Year was going to be the best year ever. I could just feel it.

Suddenly, I heard twitching and a snapping in one of the stalls of the porcelain bathroom I was in. I shivered a moment, feeling a darkness creep upon me but remembering my new philosophy. I smiled, and looked to the mirror, and started to wipe my hands at my mini-skirt due to the flaw I couldn't get wet.

That was when my phone buzzed. I pulled it out of my mini-pink-leather-jacket's pocket. I willed it to be Lewis starting a patching-up date. I willed it to be Tiffany, telling me no one thought I was too strange. I even willed it to be Bella or Will, planning a time we could get back in touch.

But it wasn't any of them. It was a dark sinister trick; it had to be. But who…? My eyes gazed with sick hatred at the letters that created such a menacing emotion.

**Oh, poor little Cleo. You miss me so much, it's making you sick…Oh wait, I think I taught you the art of being sick, and maybe a few other things…x] Congrats, I can feel your innocence wavering even more than when we played that little game. -R**

And suddenly, I heard ear-shattering barks. I gasped as the handi-capped stall opened and a phone clattering to the ground. A dog led the girl to the sink as she mumbled off a "Shit". My eyes gaped, my mouth widened. There she was, clear as day.

There was a girl I never thought I'd see again, and she was being led by her dog, because…because she was blind. Because we had caused her to be blind. And that was why she didn't see my frozen eyes. Or had she?

But I had seen her. She had sent out a text at the same time I received the…text message of secrets that only…only, Rikki knew.

So much for this year going to be a great start. As I watched Charlotte wash her hands, every action slow and unoriented, and as she slowly stepped out of the bathroom, fumbling with her phone, traces of a breakdown of flashbacks were getting corrupted in me.

And the moment, she had left. I sat down on the dirty floor, and I bawled. My cries shattered my hopes for perfection this year, but mostly they remembered all the hideous entities that took place along the course of Rikki and I's…relationship. I bawled, and bawled, until finally; I couldn't feel a thing. And I would pretend it had never happened.

**Bella's POV:**

_There was a restless stir in the confusing blur. It was her voice that made me draw the image. Rikki was shrieking, and it was all so frighteningly, horrendously familiar. She screeched 'No!' and 'No!' over and over again. She was young and she was crying out, 'What are you doing!'_

_ And I saw Rikki's face. There were scars imprinted all over her face. But not scars of physical pain, a mental type of pain…the lines wrote out secrets. I tried to collect every word I saw. _Abuse, Marriage, Lie, Cry, Secret, Mother, Whore, Scars, Curious, Fear, Bruises, Eating, Anger, Loss, Sisterhood and then _Death._

_ I put my voice at wit's end for her to get help. Nobody deserved the type of torture that was recognizable on her face. She just kept crying, and as the cries screeched on, I could feel more of the pain, the lies, the regret… I couldn't bare it. I was going explode. I couldn't _see _her like this anymore. What was I viewing!_

_ Someone needed to help her! Someone needed to help us! …But no one ever did._

My eyes tittered open to reveal blurring movement. But happy movement. It was over. It was just a nightmare. Everything was okay…as okay as it could be.

I was inside the safe curl of my covers. The covers that were covering my once-peaceful-position of love as I had put my head on Will's bare chest. We would whisper echoes of our lives after we would play around a bit or in most cases after we made love; we lie together and whispered sweet nothings. But that was before the nightmare. When I looked to my right; Will wasn't there.

I searched around the homely adored room Will and I had built memories upon. The white slick sheets covered my vulnerability only seen by the liked of Will. My mind fumbled on what day it was. The day before College was to start, also…I smiled. But where could Will possibly be?

And then I heard his chuckling voice, "Boo."

I turned around in excitement mellowing with fear. But Will didn't know I had had the most wretched dream, but he should have been able to guess. The mirror across our bed marked the naked face of Bella Hartley damned in hideousness for fear our her own thoughts crafting together a wicked story found in visions, some of it true.

"Will! What on Earth-" I was about to go on. But I saw what he held in hand. He was holding the perfection of a red rose sparked with box of my favorite type of candy; crème-filled chocolates, as well as a balloon having the happily scrawled words: Another Year In Heaven. And suddenly, I was grabbing him and he was grabbing me, and we were in a happy in love wheeling in a fitful of kisses.

We stopped for a brief second and I was thrown into his soul-shattering eyes; one blue, one brown, and his delicious lips revealed a caring smirk. "Happy Anniversary."

I giggled starting to forget the hideous dream I had endured, as we started to collapse on the bed; our kisses getting deeper and more irrational, and more prone to become something else. But suddenly, Will held my hands and then trailed up to my jawbone before giving me a sweet toe-tingling kiss.

"I know things have been…odd lately. With the house stuff, and then the Rikki news, but we will always have each other." I smiled sadly, trying to forget all the excruciating memories. They were not what is now.

"Bella," Will continued in his sheepish boy grin, "I fell in love with you the moment I saw you in the Moon Pool that first night at Mako… And, in the middle of all my confusion of what happened; I carried on a halfway friendship that should have been way more. And, so, I was planning, if you don't have any miraculous surprises for me; We could take a trip down memory lane!" His smile gloated confidence, but his eyes still questioned. Mine did too. What if there were some unwanted memories that Will didn't know about?

Don't be silly, I cursed myself. This is your two year anniversary; the day before your Sophomore College Year Begins; nothing, not even horrifying memories, can change that. Plus, as a blush rolled over me at my thoughts, you are in love by the most gorgeous charming funny clever caring guy in the entire world. Well, the world you've ventured in, which is pretty far. This was me again, having conversations with myself.

Despite Will's overachieving planning of events for this day, I too, had planned a storyline of surprises for this date. I had written him his own very song, and my nerves would need to go to waste, as I would sing this to him after my cooked dinner and a house all alone till 1pm. I had made a deal with the some of the lovely devils of our house, the one we still claimed, even after Rikki's….vanishing.

"Um, that would be absolutely lovely, Will!" I stifled a laugh. "Thanks…so much for this. I… I really love you." His eyes read: I know! I know! I know! "And, as long as I plan the whole dinner and special night sensations," My eyes gave through to a flirty and sensual gesture. "That is perfect."

"Great!" Will took his arms around me, and suddenly he was carrying me in my bras and panties and all.

I cried out his name. "Will! What about Rob, Sammy, and Lucas? We can't just disgust them with our pleasures!" But honestly, I hadn't really cared.

"Don't worry, Bells. I got them all to leave. This is our day. And prepare to be pampered." I was about to refuse as it was our day, and about our love, not Will's need to pamper me. But who was I to stop him? Will and I needed this. To visit the good memories, and transform the bad; this day was going to be perfection. Nothing could ruin that. At least, that was what I thought.

. . .

After some compromising anticipating-love positions all throughout our living room {Ah, how the housemates couldn't know} after the collaborative heart-shaped chocolate chip-strawberry pancakes Will knew I just adored; I was applying the just-right amount of mascara when I started having those deep feelings that life throws at you.

This was a good sign. The next year, concerning Will and I, at least, seemed to be screaming more and more amazingness to come at us. Will was one of the only things that got me through the day. When I had fallen for him, I had stopped…hurting myself. Well, Cleo and Rikki had got me thinking perhaps, I didn't need to…hurt myself, but Will made it clear. I was destined for greater things. He gave me confidence. He utterly adored me. And even more, I adored him as well. These romances didn't seem real. They were only in repulsively sweet chick flicks. The only real love it seems you can find in the actual world containing our Earth is between a prostitute and a drug dealer, meanwhile they're fighting over which crime is worse. Or the sometimes-found lucky gay girls and guys.

But real love between two decent types of their species: male and female [not to get all Lewis-geeky on you] was very, very abnormal. Yet, Will and I were abnormal. I was a mermaid, and he was the breathtaking human that I was in love with. Giddiness swept through me. What could come next?

And suddenly, I heard the dripping. I gulped. I couldn't breathe. It was a repulsive type of dripping. One I knew too well. One of blood falling to the tiled bathroom floor. I studied the mirror. No one was behind me, but the sounds came from this room. It had to be…in the shower. I savored a breath, and I flipped the curtains, and I gasped.

Someone had put a fake hand over the railings of the shower curtains. The fake hand led drops of scarlet red to the shower bottoms. The hand was so obviously fake, with such a real…item stabbed into it, with such strange red liquid falling to the ground.

My mind was screeching: This had to be a joke. This has to be a mean stupid joke from Lucas. He was into weird supernatural things; blood, gore, all of that. He probably just wanted me to think that he offered bad wishing for Will and I's anniversary. Mean and cruel, but not….real. That couldn't be real blood. But then I saw the certain thing thrusted in the wrist. It was…it couldn't.

_The last time I had seen that wretched…letter opener, had been one of the biggest arguments with Rikki. But it wasn't the first. Rikki had put guilt upon me for so many things, but Rikki was angry, and disgusted, and ashamed for me when she had discovered this._

_ "Bella! This is not good for you! I'm taking it away to help you!" She screeched at me. We were pulling at the golden sharp-object like animals. It was too familiar._

_ "No! But Rikki! I promise I won't do it again! Please, please! I'll throw it away… Just, please, _please," _My eyes filled with tears. And soon enough they blurred up the red embarked on my arms. "You can't tell anyone."_

_ "I know a lot of things, Bella. But I'm so….sickened. Why do you even do it? Huh, because you feel bad for yourself? You feel bad that you were so drunk you got yourself raped that night? That you didn't know who the precious father of your kid was? All of that was your fault. Alcoholic genes follow a family-line, I suppose… Do you know how many people have so much more sick twisted lives than you! You're pathetic. You're a pathetic hating-herself slutty liar. And since I'm your _friend, _I can't let this happen anymore." She pulled it again._

_ I remembered how this fight had begun. This was when Rikki was still with Zane; she invited us to the Café for a hectic uncontrollable party of dancing, illegal drinks that I some knew Zane had something to do with, and a vision of drug-dealing in the back. This had been one of the weirdest, and almost the worst night of my life. Cleo, and I had been shocked. Zane could be bad, even very tempting to some very devious things; but Cleo and I had never expected Zane and Rikki could really throw a party with alcohol, naughty dancing, and drug-dealing. Sure, they'd go to one; but not plan one._

_ This was one of the last nights I remembered Rikki and Zane getting along. I never understood how they were together. Rikki was a fiery impatient bitch most times, and Zane, as far as I knew, was a bad guy who was currently getting into too much trouble; trouble I knew even Rikki couldn't be pleased about. I thought Rikki should have broken up with him a long time ago. When the rumors had spread about the dealing, even about that fight that had left that fourteen year old boy dead. But, no; it took the littlest thing: Sophie forcing herself on Zane, to throw Rikki off. But really, sometimes I thought Zane should have dumped Rikki. Sure, he had his moments of pure arrogance and selfishness, but underneath; he seemed to have something more. At least, I had seen that when he was with Rikki. He adored her, bowed on her every word. She was so controlling. And he just let her control him. I wonder if it had ever became too much to bear. I wondered if at moments, he felt the need to kill her as I had. She always knew too much._

_ Just before our threatening fight, Rikki, drunkenly, of course, asked a guy if he would rape me. It was supposed to be a joke in Rikki's deluded mind sense, but it brought back too much anger, fear, and hate, not only for the one who brought that…pain, but for myself. Rikki saw I had been going in tears, and I didn't want to show her, and the world of the party, my weakness. Will had never got invited to that party. It remained odd to this day._

_ I had rushed; memories spiraling, blurring venganence, defeating hatred, emotions pouring, into the bathroom. And then, I had sat in the stall, and I had taken out that same old sharp gold letter-opener. And then Rikki had walked in on me._

_ She had been frantically apologizing._

_ "Bella! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It was just a joke. You take everything too serious-" And then it had become serious. She had busted her way in to an image of a surrendering me. I had been cutting on and off since I had turned fifteen, which was when Mum had gotten even worse with her drinking, with her…scandals. But the cutting had rapidly increased after that night…the night I was…sexually…assaulted. The night everything changed. I could never pretend that there weren't evil forces out there again. _Looking back on it, I can't imagine Rikki ever knowing what it felt like to be…_raped. _But what if she had? Had that been the reason she had had such strong feelings about it? Was that the reason I had thought she stood by me in every decision…until after the fact when she grilled me with guilt?

I guess I would never know.

_And then, the fight had begun. She was sickened at my actions. And I was sickened at hers. I first expected her to soothe me, tell me that it was okay, that she could help me; that was typical Rikki lying. Rikki always made things worse and she knew it. But Rikki hadn't done that. She went in full shock and hatred._

_ "Rikki! Why are you doing this! Are you determined to ruin my life!" Snot rolled down my face. And suddenly, reality gripped hold of me. Rikki was not giving up. I finally let it go, and so eerily and wickedly, Rikki smiled._

_ "That wasn't so hard, was it?" She looked back down at the letter-opener. And, slowly without another word, I thought she was going to depart from the bathroom. She now had her back turned, and she stared the other way with her glossy intriguing eyes._

_ And then the most wicked thing I had seen come upon Rikki; that counted the time I watched the water tentacle drag her away, her multiple make-out sessions with Zane, her overall meanness creating an ugly aura, and her witting off all my darkest secrets, as if they were joked. But I had never seen anything like what had happened in that stall._

_ She slid the dagger of the sharp thrust into her hand, sliding across it; creating an ex. She turned her enchanting locks of curly spirals covering her head to reveal a stinging chilling smirk. Her eyes pierced into mine. She was so powerful. She was so dangerous. I couldn't let her use this over me. She had used other knowledge over me way too many times._

_ The blood was still dripping to the floor. Her blood. I stared hard back at my scars so messily tracing my arms, and then to her one ex. Her eyes slid a secretive raise._

_ "Life's too precious." Her voice was sly and slow and practiced. "The only one ruining your life is yourself. One day, I won't be here to care for all your shit; one day, you'll have to take care of it, yourself." Her heels tapped out of the stall. I still followed the outlining blood echoing her footsteps._

_ I'd never forget that moment. She was so right. Life was too precious. And there would be a time when she wasn't there. But somehow, looking back at the day; the news seemed fortunate. But then that same never-ending guilt she engraved into my heart; it'd never go away._

And when I was back to the present; I was breathing heavily, and my nostrils were flaring. The blood still dripped. I couldn't move. All I wanted to do was hide and scream and run. I couldn't see the image that so horrifically reminded me of one of my worst memories of Rikki Chadwick. My best friend who had known everything about me. My bitchy dark best friend who was missing.

My first thought was to scream for Will and go shattering to his arms and admit the truth. But 1. I didn't, I couldn't ruin this day. 2. I could never tell Will about the things Rikki had known.

Was it possible that… that blood dripping from my shower curtains was Rikki's? I gulped. I didn't want to know. It had to be Lucas and his weird Halloween fantasies. Or, Sammy and something with her theater classes. Or, hell, even a prank from the swimmers Rob dealt with. But that didn't explain why it was that specific letter-opener. The one only Rikki had…unless she gave it to someone. Unless someone found it after she vanished. Why would she have kept it?

I tried to think nice happy thoughts. I tried not to imagine a slaughtering of Rikki's perfect aura, soul, and body. I tried to think of good memories of Halloween parties or the small events of going trick-or-treating as a kid in Ireland. Not of a haunting of a sick twisted memory. Those were the things I willed myself to think as I grabbed the foam arm and the sharp stabber, and realized where the blood was coming from. It was sick. It was disgusting. I couldn't… A bag of blood, one from a hospital was opened to drip so eerily down to the shower floor. Someone had planted this for a reason. Quickly, I poured the bag's remains down the drain. I stabbed the letter-opener into the foam hand. And I looked back at the scars that everyday I was forced to hide with make-up.

Right on the fake pale pasty hand were two exes that would haunt me forever.

. . .

The rest of the day was still as amazing as it was supposed to be. On the surface. Will and I giggled in fantasies and hopes for our future, and I found out our entire schedule for the day. We would spend a large part of the day at the Marine Park; an exact two hours away but full of exciting non-water rides Will and I had never had the chance to freak-out upon. That included the world's highest drop tower, a spinning sensation of upside down roller coasters, and food that was made to vomit on. Our first official date had been there. Then, Will proclaimed to go to Mako Island, have a picnic, and fall even more in love then the first looks we exchanged had been there.

I was anxious about the Mako-visit. Now I should have told him this, he would offer another alternative right away, but I didn't want to make him go out of his way yet again to make sure I was okay. And the truth was I'd probably never be. But Will had gone through too much throughout these years for me…even last night. He had comforted me a bazillion times before we settled off to a riveting actions on our bed. He didn't even know why I was so upset about the evidence Rikki had gotten raped sometime in her life. He didn't know that…that I had. And Rikki had been…a bitch about it.

Will had held my hand on all the rides at the MarinePark. He had kissed my cheek in difficult positions before we went spiraling into danger zones. And he had bought me cotton candy and all I could do was pretend I was the happiest girl in the world. Which I should have been.

But the memories had been reinstated. And they wouldn't fade. It didn't help when Will followed me throughout the underwater tunnels to Mako's precious moon pool. Even a former skilled brilliant diver like himself, a mermaid was too much to match.

I watched him take a huge gulp of air as we surfaced to the Moon Pool's breathtaking imagery. I shimmied in the perfect galore of my tail, and Will smirked into my eyes, and as always; my heart skipped a beat.

"I remember when I first saw you here!" I hiccupped in rejoice of the strange memory. "You had just been hit by the water tentacle…but still, you managed to look absolutely gorgeous and distressed, and then when you woke up…" My voice carried on, and my eyes sauntered at his.

"And then when I woke up, what? I remember you as the adorable stunning girl who looked a bit freaked out." He pulled my waist closer to his in the pool. We floated only centimeters apart and he had whispered into my ear.

"Story of my life." I muttered, trying for a laugh. But suddenly his eyes caught mine, and I smiled again. I had thrown the letter-opener out. The blood was gone. Nothing could ruin this perfect day. "When you woke up…I knew….I knew you'd be one of the most amazing people in my life…and I knew something extremely special would happen…and it did."

Will gently pulled my head in for a beautiful mess of make-out sessions. We crashed back and forth as mini-waves surrounded us. And somehow, we stopped ourselves and Will helped me to the ground above the moon pool, and I dried off. He carried me in typical-lovely-Will-is-in-the-mood-for-romantic-bliss-before-a-certain-something to the beach area where we had a picnic planned out for us. I really had to make sure my dinner was absolutely fantastic to top Will's amazing surprises. He would like my song….I knew that. He had too. Even I liked it, and I was one to put down my work.

The night I envisioned was perfection. After a day of tingling born-again memories, I would make the perfect dinner, sing the perfect song, watch the perfect movie, get in a fit of perfect kisses before the movie was over, and saunter to our bedroom. Sammy, Rob, and Lucas would come hope to a devastated kitchen but everything would be wonderful in the end. That was what I thought. I should had known nights you imagine to be perfect end in hysteria.

In the middle of our breathtaking lunch, my insides darkened as I stared around the island's surroundings; absolutely nothing but the ocean. The sand was a nice white real sand color. Fish basked in glory. And sharks didn't disturb the fellow mermaids and their lovers as they swam along magic's request. But a thought was throbbing at the dark depths that I pretended weren't there.

"Do…Do you think Emma and Rikki went here after they left Cleo's house that night?" I had told Will everything about that night. Well, maybe not everything. Not about Rikki's teasing comments referring to a night she knew I couldn't change. But about the alcohol, about the memories we toasted, about how Rikki destined this to be an amazing night for her life, and how Emma mysteriously appeared and under full moon madness was wary of guilt of not remembering what happened to Rikki. But what if she didn't know? But I knew better than this. The way they had stared at each other with cold hatred, or more Rikki's way of that and Emma's way of enchantment and nostalgia told me…maybe Emma had something to do with, _it. _Whatever it was.

After a long discomforting silence, Will sighed. "You think…? I mean…it makes sense. The Moon used to pull them to Mako…I… I never liked that Emma girl." He was now slurping up the red wine collaborated with mini-sandwiches, crisps, and sausage rolls.

I didn't know how to respond. Sure, Emma had been strange and weird that night. In my childhood experiences, all of my full moons were strange and weird. But could the moon drive a mermaid to…kill another mermaid? Especially if formally, they had been friends?

"She came in at a weird time, I'll admit…but she didn't strike me as the type who would…hurt someone. Especially someone like Rikki." I nibbled on my lip and looked to a crab wobbling on the sand.

"But you said Rikki was angry at her…what if she seriously hurt her, Bells?" My emotions went in war. Will was serious. He looked angry and bitter, and terrified. For a moment, I pictured Emma…_murdering _Rikki. I pictured Rikki's broken mermaid form at the bottom of the ocean.

I shuddered. "I guess…we'll never know." I didn't want to go on. I didn't want to have even more wretched images in my mind of Rikki. After the photograph on the paper, and then that dream…

"Just because the police can't find out what happened, doesn't mean we can't." I shivered. Was he saying, in ruinment of our perfect day, we should go on a detective hunt to find out what really happened to Rikki?

"But…Will…Emma was moonstruck. She has no idea what happened that night. None of us do. We'll just have to pray that justice will be found." I bit my lip, willing as the numbness crept into me.

And the most unexpected thing happened, Will snapped. Something that had never happened in the history of Will and I's relationship. He twisted the glass that held our wine, and I watched, gutlessly as it plummeted to it's tortures in the sand.

"Maybe we should find our own justice! I mean…for as far as we know, they never questioned Emma, they never questioned _Zane," _hatred came from his spews, "…They never even asked me any questions." Will's eyes seemed lost in visions.

I gulped. After Emma came back, we all had willed Rikki probably was just swimming off her annoyance of some stupid moon-mind-fuck, and would be back for the morning. We never searched all her favorite places. We never gave a mermaid's instinct out in the ocean, not even to Mako…. We should have. But it hadn't seemed real enough yet. Would Will hate that we had never looked for her that night?

After a day of no occurring Rikki, we were all worried in isolation. I found myself staring at knives. Cleo didn't eat a thing. And Emma kept pacing. I was the one first to suggest we call the police. It had seemed at that moment, only I cared about Rikki. And I did, I knew we all did. But maybe it was for the wrong reasons. I cared because I knew she could tell all of my disgusting secrets to the world…and possibly, she was my best friend, cruel or not. Perhaps, all her intentions were just to look out for me. When she should have been looking out for herself.

The police questioned us, severely at first, but honestly they didn't seem to keen on their job. We didn't tell them Emma was the last of us to see her. Emma had one of those faces you trust easily…even if you shouldn't. They wanted to know why Rikki would leave Cleo's house so suddenly, all by herself when it had been intended as a sleepover.

We had practiced what we were going to say. We told them that she had gotten angry at us. She had gotten angry that we were flaunting our College-Congratulations, while she was going to be living right out of High School life. We told them, she seemed jealous, and she had walked out in exhaustion of us getting excited for our new lives. The opposite was true. Rikki thought we were wasting ourselves away. She had told me the whole idea of College was useless… She had once said that anybody could die tomorrow. What was the point of working your ass off for no guarantees?

So, we had lied to the police. For Emma, seemingly, but really, for our secret. If we had told that Emma was the last one in knowledge of Rikki, she'd have to say she didn't remember…because she was moonstruck. And why was she moonstruck? Oh yeah, because she was a mermaid!

And I never told Will the truth...about so many things. I had never even told him that he could have possibly had a…baby.

I was put to the present.

"Well, why would they, Will? Yeah, Rikki and you were friends…but you think they were going to question every single person in contact with her?" Will remained stoic. I bit my lip. I didn't know what to say. Funny, how even now, Rikki could ruin my relationship with Will.

"Rikki didn't have many friends, Bella. And the ones she did have, you, Cleo, and that Emma…I know the way she treated you girls most times." A thought repressed me. Did she treat Will that way? Or was it just a mermaid-sisterhood-thing?

"You all had your secrets…and maybe if you told the police everything…Maybe, we would know what happened to Rikki." Will stared at the wobbling crab in the distance. He didn't glance at me.

I was flabbergasted, so flabbergasted, I said flabbergasted.

"You mean, tell them about being mermaids?" My voice was in shock. Was he serious? Was he delusional? Or was he right? When the protection of a secret led to the mystery of one of the secret keepers disappearance…was it really even worth it?

"That and all the rest." His voice was bitter. His eyes taunted stoicness. And then came that destroying deafening silence. And I played with my fork.

Will's eyes finally returned to mine. "I'm so sorry, Bells. It just…what happened last night with the police… I hate not knowing what happened. But…but today isn't about that, or anything else…but us." He smiled that smirk. And everything once again seemed right in the world. "So, we better live it up since we only have…" He glanced at his watch, "ten hours left before the house is yet again inhabited by those animals we call housemates. As well as the fact, daily college torture will begin."

And, just like that, the silence was over. I forgot about Will's inner-hatred for not knowing. And I almost forgot about the letter opener, and the blood…the blood that had to be fake. Just like everything else in this life.

. . .

We giggled our quicksteps upon the medium-sized rent house. It was a beautiful stone house, with a small balcony out back, and gloriously, but with no use; a hot tub. The kitchen was set out to be a cheek bar, and after the living room filled with posters, a couch, TV, and many memories, filed the hallways of doom; bedrooms. And oh so stereotypically, Sammy, and Lucas liked to complain about certain noises. Rob couldn't talk though, the cocky fellow he was.

Will and I had tried having the whole place to ourselves at first. Cleo and Lewis had distanced themselves from us and each other. We still planned for them to live with us, but soon enough I got the odd news that Cleo was planning to join a sorority. And Lewis; his excuse was his need to focus more on schoolwork, staying as close to the College as possible. But I knew why the declined; nothing would feel right without a feisty dangerous Rikki.

And Emma had never been invited.

Sammy and I had first bonded over our incredible hate for our History Professor, Langley, and her habit of snorting up over and revealing her granny panties to the world, or worse our lecture. Langley paired us up for a project on mythology of all things! We had gotten coffee, and soon enough I had myself a normal nice pre-best-friend. It turned out: she detested living on College Campus. Simple Solution.

Rob was Will's friend. He also, with his obsession of spaghetti, swimming, and girls who date-rape-drugged themselves was utterly flustered at the fact he had been forced to room with a supposed YouTube-Freak who always kicked him out of his own room because he was in the middle of a masterpiece. Although, Rob swore he was in the middle of his own masterpiece; one of the rules of arousing; Their lifestyles didn't click.

Will had met him in Psychology, as weird as it was. It was nice to say Will and I had some normal friends. And oh, there was Lucas.

Strange guy he was, he should have been majoring in Lawyer Skills; he could convince a rat to chaise it's tail. He was into supernatural stuff, which I couldn't exactly proclaim as weird, because, um, hello: Mermaid speaking! I had taken some Supernatural Study class for the heck of it. Freaked me to a severe close call to death, being the alluring siren-killing-of-sailors mermaid that I was… Lucas had come up to me, and asked, or in a sense, begged me to pretend to go out with him.

I had quickly explained that I, for one had a real boyfriend, and mostly: would never pretend to date anyone. I liked to believe if you were dating someone, you should have the beliefs you could possibly love this person… Lucas had told me he was gay, and he was desperate. A firm no, and an odd snotty look scared him off.

But then Will found him, as he came home from a fake-booze-night with Rob…shivering and broken on the streets. Will recognized him from class. The truth was Lucas had been kicked out by the jerks in his dorm for being gay. It was a sad truth. And now, I feel a bit guilty, I had probably caused the violence against him that night; as I had rejected him, and all those dickheads knew…but Will and I made it up to him. Somehow, he ended up a housemate…even if his interests were a little kooky. He liked gore. Gore referred to blood. I had found that eerie blood and the knife. A part of me wanted Lucas to have something to do with it.

So, as Will and I trembled into the house, kissing-addicted and passionately clinging to each other after the end of the day, and start of the night; I took a secretive finger and waved it at him. After arriving home; I had perfected a delicious dinner, and Will had forced me to dance with him afterwards. And then the sweetest thing had come; my song. I sang it to him, my vocals blaring, my heart daring, and his eyes shone amazement. As they did every time, my voice sang to the air… It had this amazing effect. I felt happy. I felt loved. I felt beautiful. It wasn't bad that Will gave me that feeling.

And now, after that that evening of perfect memories; we would trail into the night. And our desires would be heard. As soon as I made my little surprise for Will the best of it's treat.

And so, like that, I whispered to Will to wait and the bedroom. And I'd be there soon and ready for our wild nights that could still be defined as crazily in love twenty-year-olds.

Quickly, without a look to the mirror or the shower where some new haunting memories might await me if I disclosed myself here in the middle of the night; I undressed myself with a giggle of enthusiasm. Inside the box I crafted open, lie the beginning of enchantments for the night.

It was an adorable purple apron from a twisted in seduction order of Victoria's Secret. And it made even me, the fellow consumer swat the air with hotness. My dirty blonde hair was made into the urge of ringlets and now flattering red lipstick and a reinforce of mascara and eye shadow proclaimed a sultry surprise for Will. Not that he didn't know what was coming.

I licked my kissable lips. Tonight was going to be the last blissful event of this summer. After today, things would turn serious. Sammy and I'd go back to our midnight frappuccino sprees while we drained every inch of our minds for a passable project. Will and I would go back to our casual addictions but things would get messy as we dealt with the factor of having less time for each other. But, maybe…things would be different this year. It sure was starting out an amazing amount different from last year.

I waved a gorgeous smile at myself and for once; I was put into the simplicity; it was okay to think you were beautiful. Right now, I was. I grabbed to the condom box, although in knowledge Will was probably already on it. Suddenly, something tickled, or more carved into my back. I messed my fingers and found a sharp plunge. I was bleeding.

I pulled the wretched thing out in irritation. A staple stuck into my finger and the tiny trickles of blood dropped to the floor. I sighed. What was a staple doing with a leftover tag? I wiped my finger on the towels we hung up.

Suddenly, a paper flew from the towels. It was a pure piece of black paper with white letters stitched on it. Fear shook within me. Blood…Letter-openers, flashbacks I didn't want to go back to… I quickly unfolded it and choked. It wasn't possible. It was pure insanity.

_**Aw, Bella! Have fun tonight! But don't forget I got in Will's pants first! Funny though…you were the one who had to pay for it…or was that thing you killed not even Will's? I have an itch this year will be a year of flashbacks, don't you? I'll definatly make sure you remember all your sickening faults. -R**_

Right now, when I looked back at the mirror; everything seemed ugly.

. . .

**ALERT: BY ALL MEANS, the rest of the chapters will not be this gloriously long. This is just a kick-off-premeire-chapter. I've decided after this; I want the chapters to only be focused on one character, so if you were ludicrously dulled with my writer's rambling; it'll get better in chapters to come. -zz**

_**I'm watching. These lying little mermaids, of course. I don't have time to study a species so ignorant in believing whatever they here; Readers. But don't worry, I'll teach all of you a little thing or two about lies. 1. Karma's a bitch. 2. The truth is always found. Emma is such a magnificently mental mermaid if she swears she still doesn't remember what happened to poor little bitchy Rikki… Cleo, oh I love messing with the most. There's something so appealing about torturing the hungry and confused. And Bella? Oh, she has flashback of the dark ages that concerned me watching as I always do… But, perhaps, I envy you naïve little readers; the show is about to begin. And you guys have some lessons to be taught. –R**_

**[The best thing you can do as an 'ignorant little reader' [R's words, not mine] is give a review. R likes to be charged with shock. It fuels the mysterious mean entity of all knowledge to be even more wicked to our favorite mermaids. But we all know, in order for them to be our favorite, we just have to pity them. So leave a review. It makes sense in a twisted deluded way. X]**


	3. Emma: Wicked Empty Amber Eyes

**Dying Comes With Lying**

**[By: WillowSuzzaGleeee]**

**A/N: Thank you all so much for your support and feedback! I love the fact that you are all as enthralled about the secrets and mysteries and plain out freaky lying mermaid drama that is to come! BTW: The messages of A/N at the end are written by me, **really,** yes, but any insulting or feelings of uneasiness and forcing to review is not intended. I just feel R can convince you to review your hearts out better than I can…in a very wicked way.**

**This chapter is Emma's. I'm hoping things will get more interesting as they carry along trying to rid of the past. I'm going to have some more flashbacks which I'm really excited about writing! Read and review, friends!**

**. . .**

**Emma's POV:**

I was driving too fast. Thinking too fast. But that was just the way I liked driving. It calmed me, made me more rational, possible of sensible thoughts… Even if an actual sensible person wouldn't drive with the influence of a martini. All the weirdness of the most abnormal day rattled my skull. Ash was an ass, I had received the most eerie impossible message from an anonymous named R, and now…now, I had just met my new roommate…and I had ran from the blaze of dark red hair.

_I had been in a mess of confusion. How could someone who titled themselves, R, know that…secret. It had to be Rikki. That was what common sense screeched. But why would she send as only 'R'? Rikki never initialed after sent messages. She found it absolutely ridiculous. She found the sent a lazy retarded pig if they were unable to read who the message was from. The message had been a mystery of the sender. So many questions hit me, but the one that had been pounding my head most; Why would Rikki do this, creating some type of cruel weird game?_

_ Past memories whispered, 'Didn't she always do that?' The messenger _knew _what Mum and my secret was. And the messenger had said 'our'. But what scared me most…she had said she was always _watching. _Did that include now? When I was running away from a day of a sick mishappenings? Did this R person know all my deepest darkest secrets?_

_ I turned my thoughts off after that. I kept having a sinking revelation that 'R' knew what I was thinking every single second. This was one of the worst days I had had in years. I didn't know the worst was to come._

_ When I had arrived back on Redleaf's Campus, the sky had faded in a sun-setting evening. I had planned to detail the horrific highlights of the day; the martini, the strangeness of Ash, and then so ludicrously; the text message. So many thoughts baffled me. Who could be the messenger? Ash? Someone I didn't even know? Or the most terrifyingly sensible answer? Rikki._

_ I wanted to jot down all the factors of the animosity, all the possibilities of even what happened to Rikki. The text froze me to indefinable fear, but also a surge of inspiration. I would find out who sent that message. I would find out what happened to Rikki. I had to. It was our claim, Cleo, Bella and I, as the mermaids left, to finish the aftermath of Rikki's…disappearance. Was she still out there? Was she still haunting me with that secret?_

_ An overbearing amount of memories penetrated my emotions. I was zigzagging up the calm hallway to my room number, _714, _and I was astounded at a fragrance so familiar. It wreaked of roses and the ocean. I had smelled this so instinctively before. Why was it floating from my own very room? And suddenly, I got that jolt of knowledge your being watched. I stared all around, my eyes desperate to find the watcher and scream 'HA!', but I didn't find anyone. Until my own dorm door creaked open._

_ I gasped. I was put into a fourth of a heart-attack. Her lips frowned at the gasp, and she glanced down to the German Sheppard the froze in front of her and barked angrily at me. Her hand cuddled the dog, and he finally quieted, remaining his gait of hatred towards me. Her amber eyes were still open, but now isolation took over them. Burns took over her once pale face, arms, and shoulders._

_ There stood Charlotte Watsford. And that was when the shame of the worst remembered night of my life swept in. It was all happening before me, yet again. I wanted it to stop. But I needed to revisit it in some weird demented way._

Charlotte's arms and legs wailed for help. She wasn't used to be a fragile human in the arms of the water. Her head bobbed to the surface, and fear and defeated cried in her shining eyes. She stared at each one of us, for a moment, and hate daggers shot out of her eyes. A small corrupted tear sunk from her tries of being strong; weakness whispered through.

I smiled a stinging sensation of accomplish. Cleo, Rikki, and I all did. The wicked mermaid was dead. She had lost her powers. And now we all stood over her, wondering what came next. The thought excited me, as disgusting as it was, how we would knock her self-esteem to tears in the following moments. I had never dared guess we'd really hurt her that night. And that I'd be at fault.

Rikki giggled. _For a moment in the flashback, I marveled at her happy face. The smirking, and shining if not a bit evil blue eyes that rolled along her face that moment was the last moment of Rikki's happiness I had seen. After that night, that twisted full moon; she would hate me forever._

Once Rikki had started giggling; Cleo did too. And soon enough, I decided to join in. There we stood, three superior mermaids over a frightened now scared hopeless bitch turned little girl. Lewis stood in the dark corner of our mermaid cavern tsking with his tongue. Charlotte looked at him with blurry desperate eyes, but he just shook his head. No one would give her any mercy, tonight. That was for sure.

That night was the first time I witnessed Rikki take charge. It was the first time I saw how helpless Cleo was under Rikki's command. It should have been Cleo's duty as the angered in love siren for Lewis to decide how we'd corrupt Charlotte's mind after we ridded her of her powers. In Cleo's case, we probably would have never hurt Charlotte… Cleo had a huge loathing for Charlotte, but I didn't see it possible for Cleo to really hurt anything that wasn't a fly.

Rikki stopped giggling in manic ending. She gave Cleo a fierce glare, and smiled at me. Charlotte hiccuped. "Please…erm…" Moonlighted water blurred with her soaking tears.

"Cleo…I think it's time for you to have your reunion with Lewis…outside, don't you think?" Cleo opened her mouth to refuse in referral to Charlotte, but Rikki silenced her with her eyes.

Rikki had whispered, "Do I have to do everything with you?" then grinned on the outside. There were traces of evil glimmering in her eyes, a type of evil that was nothing compared to what was the potential held in me. "Don't worry. Emma and I will take care of _her._" Rikki smirked and twisted her face to Charlotte.

Cleo slowly nodded, and gripped Lewis's hand. I was staring at her oddly. Why did she take orders from Rikki like that? The last image of them was Lewis's own confused face, and Cleo's wobbling eyes.

And then, I was left in the silence of Mako's moon pool, filled with an evil mermaid-no-more, two vengeful actual mermaids, and a wicked disaster waiting to happen. The worst part, was at this very second in the memory; I wasn't even really angry at Charlotte. Sure, she was a slightly-malevolent mermaid-witch who stole Lewis and our mermaid identities, but we had rid her of her powers. I had thought Rikki and I would just make sure to death's part, Charlotte was never going to tell anyone about our secret.

Charlotte now was cautiously and quickly scavenging up the steps that led off the pool. Rikki held her hand out. A jolt placed me to as well.

"I don't think you want to do that." Rikki sneered. And I heard a frightening gripe of what she and I were capable of.

"Fine…Fine… I'll leave Mako, okay, I'll never talk to you guys again-" Rikki shook her head at Charlotte's pleads. I gulped. As long as she didn't dare tell a soul our secret…she would leave in peace. Aftermaths always seem more complicated than the real war.

I now spoke up. I was Emma Gilbert, natural born leader. Both of us, with our long flowing blonde billowing hair stood alongside looking Charlotte down. I cleared my throat. "You will never tell any single entity, as in being, program, or anything else about our secret…" Rikki finished for me.

"And maybe we'll decide to let you go free of Cleo's charge for basically ruining her life…And that's still a maybe…Understand?" Rikki clucked and sealed a deviously perfect eerie giggle.

She was making even me uncomfortable, but I didn't have the guts to say it. What was I going to do, be all, 'No! No! Give Charlotte a break! She doesn't deserve all these frightening words just because you're also scaring me when you say them!'. Not possible. Rikki was right. Charlotte had single-mindlessly ruined Cleo's life. And we had to do something more to her, something to make her remember to not only not to mess with other girl's boyfriends, but not to mess with mermaids. Even if Cleo should have been here to witness it herself.

"I… can't promise that." Charlotte almost choked. She floated back to the deep depths of the moon pool. Why had Charlotte been so stupid? I suppose, it had been obvious. Charlotte had too much pride and will-power and she wanted it known she could and would tell everyone about us. But didn't she see the harnessed angry voices scorching her with invisible daggers?

Rikki snorted. I laughed in cruelty. A while in the air, I heard an awed Cleo chuckle with Lewis. Charlotte was not going to really ruin our secret, not after everything she had done.

Rikki was about to snap some bitchy remark out, but I beat her to it. "And if you can't promise that, I can't promise I won't freeze you to death…but, hmm…should I? I really wouldn't want to make a mess in our special cavern…but for the death of ex-mermaid bitches…sounds enticing, doesn't it, Rikki?"

Charlotte shivered and looked for someone to grab and hide under. She was such a desperate brat like that. Looking for someone else to be with her all the time.

The moments after I had curdled that out, Rikki stared at me with such a cheeky smile. She couldn't believe I had such a rolling tongue of poison for Charlotte. She then nodded precisely. "Definitely. But before, I suppose I would have to give her a lecture of burning…and then it'd be awaited by a freeze." Cackles took over our newly hatched catty voices.

Somehow, I suppose I had thought this was all a game. Rikki knew it was a game, it was her game. She had believed so easily we were both joking. I hadn't. I started thinking about Cleo's hidden calls of sobs and breakdowns. A look into Rikki's eyes screamed she knew even worse. I had thought we had a reason to scare Charlotte a little. It hadn't occurred to me actually hurting Charlotte would do so much more than scare her.

"Please…don't! I mean, I won't tell anyone. I promise!" Charlotte now begged. Her eyes whispered for mercy. Was there a tad of christening vengeance?

"I don't believe you." I muttered with a sly roll of my eyes. "None of us do."

Charlotte held her pale plain hands out in mercy. My head giggled, 'It's all just a game. It's all to pretend to teach Charlotte a lesson.'

"You know what our lesson to you would teach? …" Rikki cocked her head and observed and inspected Charlotte up and down. "Guess…and if you get the lesson right… You'll be free to go, knowing we'll hunt you down if you decide it's necessary to tell anyone our secret." Rikki never said the m-word out loud.

Charlotte covered her purple shawl with her arms. She whimpered. Her eyes begged. She regretted saying she would tell too deeply. There were so many regrets in Rikki's life. In my own.

"Guess." Rikki severed Charlotte's desperate mind.

"Now." I added with a smirk.

"You…You want me to know how wrong I was in…in taking Lewis, and stealing your secret and being irresponsible with it, and almost destroying all of your powers…and I'm so, so sorry. I've learned my lesson!." Charlotte quivered frantically. It was hard to believe just a few moments ago, Charlotte was whipping water snakes at us like we were her weak delicate slaves.

I thought what she said was a good enough guess. I thought we would mutter of one last, 'Boo!' then point to the entrance to the moon pool and conclude she better be leaving with no remembrance of having contact with us at all. But Rikki shook her head, angrily. I had just went along with it. Not because I naturally followed Rikki, nor that I was too weak to stand on my own. At that moment, I thought this was just an odd freaky ritual that Charlotte would endure and remember as her last mermaid memory…until she pretended to forget everything about mermaids.

"Wrong. Wrong lesson. Now you'll have to pay." That was what Rikki's ferocious voice sizzled from it's Medusa's snake coils connected to her voice box. Rikki turned to me and gave me a chilling smile, and started to raise her hand. I caught on and raised mine as well.

"On the count of three…One, Two," No mercy would be found for Charlotte after that moment. If I paused the flashback at this moment and saw the twinkle of amusement sparkling in Rikki's eyes; I would have known. She intended this all to be a joke She had just wanted to freak out Charlotte one last time and tell her what she was worth. But I hadn't known that. I had made the most terrible mistake in my life right at that moment.

That moment contains when I rolled my hand flat, and froze Charlotte's body, heart, and soul. I had plastered her to Mako's moon pool's waves. I had thought I would never see her again. But at the moment it had actually happened, I thought it would all be reversible as Rikki was fire, I was ice. I would freeze her for the splittest second until she was shaken back to humidity and fear.

But then I heard Rikki's sinking terrified gasp. "Emma! No!" But it was too late. Charlotte lie, flat on her back, amber eyes curdling upwards, hands and legs sprawled like an angel, a snow one, with the ice trickling her everywhere. This had once happened before, with Miriam. But things would go of panic with Charlotte, and the results of this…_accident _would be fatally cursed.

I stared, eyes wide, mouth open. It had fully settled in what I had done. But, my first thought was to wonder why Rikki hadn't done it. "I thought…I thought we were going to use our powers on three." Now that I had exclaimed it out loud, it all sounded so ludicrously wretched.

Rikki's eyes screeched ridicule. She had been joking. Why hadn't I realized that? How could I have done such a heart inhumane action…that had caused a dark red head frozen in her own icy lies. _Rikki had created her own little cruel game, just like the suspecting I had that R was her making a twisted game of the secrets I had trusted her with my life. Always, in her little games, somebody else loss. She always won._

"You idiot! Emma, how could you possibly believe I could hurt someone like this! I wanted to scare her out of her wits one last time! I thought you were the one person intelligent enough to see that! …How the hell could you do this!" Suddenly, I saw Rikki's eyes were wet. And the possibility; Rikki was crying, and I was standing there, a predator numb as ice, the evil thing I essentially was, made me soon burst into tears.

"I'm so sorry! We have to undo this! There has to be a way! With your power, we can save her! And Cleo can help! We saved Miriam, we can save Charlotte." Rikki's eyes dotted along Charlotte's O-shaped mouth and devastated eyes. Rikki shook her head. And that was when I started to witness a bit of an insane Rikki.

And then suddenly, footsteps shrouded down the corridor that led to the moon pool. Cleo and Lewis's worried and anxious voices hovered over our names, in fear…"What's happening?"

Rikki's eyes flew to the tunnels that led to the devastating scene with Charlotte frozen in one. She shook her head wildly, and panic struck both our lungs. "They can't see this! We'll take care of it ourselves!" I opened my mouth in disbelief and objection.

But her intensive blue eyes threatened otherwise. Hearing Cleo's already shrill voice, and Lewis's off-wonders, I knew Rikki was right. But Cleo and Lewis were already coming and soon enough they would find the terrifying scene lying at their feet. And they would all point to me. The ice. The freeze. At the moment, I had thought Rikki was trying to protect me.

"Cleo, it's fine… We're just having an argument! Everything is okay, go back with Lewis if you know what's good for you…" Rikki snarled in rapid attempt to hide our…troubling actions. My panic flares were booming. Charlotte would die. Our secret would be revealed. We'd be some physco prison show!

And then slowly, I heard Cleo's slow unsure grunt, and then her convincing Lewis everything was fine, as Rikki had said. But things were far from fine.

"Rikki! What are we going to do! Charlotte's frozen! We need Cleo's help to get her back, and even then, she'll tell everyone about us!" My eyes stung of silent-screeching fear. I was going to be responsible for murder. I shouldn't have thought this way. This had happened one time to Miriam, and we revived her. But the way Rikki's eyelids were fluttering in her own fear… In Miriam's case, Rikki had been calm and collected. She knew exactly what she was doing. And now…she was stricken with regretful actions.

"No, Emma, we don't." Rikki stared me square in the eye. And so stupidly, I believed her, and sighed.

"I'll…warm things up…and then…then, we'll make sure she never tells anyone." There was little sincerity to her eyes. But she had held that sharp constructive voice, the one she used when she had to be certain of something. She could control everything.

"And we'll never…" I cut her off in a screech.

"Just save her, okay? This can't be happening….How could I do this?" It was all so monstrously my fault. I couldn't blame Rikki then, and I never could now. No matter what she made it believed…

"Em…it's gonna be alright, I promise you. We just have to get her warmed up, I…" And then no words were said. Rikki held up her hand, and I watched in penetrating fear as the ice that swallowed and took part of Charlotte whole started dripping into water. Her vacant ember eyes still radiated a force of wickedness.

Slowly, and carefully, Rikki's other hand slipped into mine. I trembled with it and held tight. Us mermaids had gotten into a rotten lot of trouble. But that night, the night Charlotte basically went to a Hell frozen over; that was the first time our powers, our angry will, it was the first time it had led to such…dark and fatal…effects.

Watching Charlotte slowly fall in air as the ice surrounded of her melted; a tear of relief washed down my cheek. Everything was going to be fine, as Rikki had said. Why was it I always doubted her ability to ease a situation. Sure at first her, "Then-We'll-Have-To-Draw-Sticks-And-Eat-Each-Other" attitude had been irritating and actually quite bad-vibing the mood, but she knew how to make you feel like in all the wreckage; there was still some hope.

But then, something ruined that night into horrendous fate. Lewis, in a sense, but he really shouldn't have been to blame. I was. But both Lewis and I never took the blame, that was a place reserved for Rikki…in what demented ways she chose it to be. Lewis had squabbled in, and he rapid screaming once he saw Charlotte, "Ohmy…Rikki! Emma! What have you done!"

And in those moments, those precise moments that gathered information for the rest of our lives, Rikki's hand flinched, and deep roaring orange fire sprang from the water. I wish to say it surrounded Charlotte, in a cool-exhibit-like image only capable at amusement parks for the thrill-lovers. But the fire pierced it's scars onto Charlotte's fragile body, face, and most importantly; her eyes. Charlotte would have remains of burns, her body would be crisped, and her eyes would be a delusion of pitch darkness.

All because of me.

_Cleo had come in a bit after that. Her eyes were shocked and her face was full of horror, and the whole time Rikki and Lewis carried Charlotte's limping body across Mako's jungle, and onto the boat; Cleo and I sobbed into each other's arms. Two emotions had rattled together in comfort. Complete hatred had taken over me. Hatred for myself. I had done this. Cleo was isolated in fear._

_But the most abandoned damaged one of the night; Rikki, Cleo, and I willed Charlotte evil; we left her on the city's beaches. Cleo stood, numbing in tears. I locked my head in what I wished to the protection of my arms. Lewis stood screaming that we needed to call 911. And Rikki kept screeching that we couldn't. That they would put us all in jail until they found out we were what they would believe 'evil mermaids'._

_But were we?_

_Soon enough, I hopped out of my severe depressed position I would go back to in a night's time, and I grabbed Lewis's phone myself. My shrill voice echos the recording in a new broadcast that came out two nights after. I screeched that a girl burned herself, and she needed help. They asked me what my name was and where we were. But I had hung up the phone, I threw it into the ocean, and I begged Lewis to take us all home. Where we would try to forget about that night._

_I could still smell Charlotte's wrath of roses and the ocean.  
><em>

_Rikki offered to stay with me in those dark hours. My Mom and Dad were away on the practiced Full Moon, and Rikki knew I couldn't stand being alone weeping at what I had done, because in the end, I knew it really was my fault. Even if Rikki had told Cleo and Lewis she had burned Charlotte in anger, I knew the truth. We had all sworn to never tell a soul._

_That night also held the night that Rikki banished me from the Gold Coast. Even in my sobbing scared guilty state of mind that night, I had never seen it coming. I had done some bad things in the past, really bad things, but I had never thought Rikki would have found out…or cared. I also never could have guessed the secret that connected Rikki and I…and my…our mother. And how Rikki had found out about it. How had she?_

_Someone had sent her proof, on her phone, that night with pictures of me in my …undeveloped stages with a certain someone I had known my whole life, someone she claimed to be in love with. But even worse, they had sent her a legendary truth even I didn't know about. A connection between us so…twisted and demented. But, now, looking back; who had sent her those messages? The messages had made Rikki blow up in hysteria. The messages caused Rikki to screech at me to leave the Gold Coast, or she'd tell both Lewis and Cleo, as well the police a halfway lie that I had caused Charlotte's burning, that I had burned her to a critical condition of no remembrance of that night, and to her burned eyes; she would never see again._

And now, Charlotte was standing in my dorm doorway, with an odd little hopeful smile looking so…nice, innocent, and excited. My gulp cracked, and I realized she was oddly reaching out her hand in search for a handshake.

Her seeing-eye dog still growled at me. Charlotte just smiled even more.

"Don't mind her; she's just a bit over-protective…" Her voice trailed with an endless vibe, as if she weren't precisely sure she was talking to anyone but the lonely air.

I tried for a fake giggle, but was still shocked into silence.

Charlotte's delicate red lips twitched as she bit them. "Um, I'm your new roommate…Charlotte…?" She said it as a question.

I couldn't speak. Wouldn't she recognize my voice? I decided to play it safe and speak with a twang to cover my identity.

"Cool. I'm, Em, erm, Amelia." My eyes gagged. _Amelia? _That was the worse name I had heard my voice tingle in history. Couldn't I had picked a pretty fake name like Emilia, or even Eva? Wait…wouldn't she know who her own roommate was by reading the papers sent to her? But…she couldn't see. I twitched at the thought, my eyes still taking in every precise detail of the scars Rikki and I had left.

Why me? Why in all the weird roommates I could have been given, why choose Charlotte? Why did she even go here? This was not what I reckoned for when I chose to come to my friendly computer contemplating every thing I knew about Rikki Chadwick. These were my thoughts when she grabbed my hand suddenly, and pulled me into the room. Shivers shrilled my spine.

Charlotte turned to the direction of the door and held her seeing-stick. She pointed it at the ugly brown remains of the hole in the wall, and slammed it shut. An Emma-fear-inspired smile lingered at her lips. Her burns…They were everywhere.

I was about to ask her why she shut the door so quickly as if…she wanted to trap me when her hand flew to her back pocket to a buzzing phone. She grabbed it out, fumbled with it, until her voice echoed 'Send text'. My eyes flew in horror… What if she had sent me that message? But soon enough, her phone was placed back into her pocket, and her smile shined sincerity, until she flinched.

"You're staring, aren't you?" I replied back with silence.

"It's fine…I understand…Amelia. It's not very typical to get a roommate who looks like…erm…an evil dragon's guts with scars painting it….I just want us to get it straight; I'm still an actual person…I'm not some weird infected different species…. I'm really hoping we can be friends." She let go of my hand, and a silent sigh of relief washed over me.

"Um…of course, I…" I thought intensely. What would I say to a regular roommate that just happened to be a blinded burn victim? "It's just that, I… I'm going out tonight; Er, boyfriend and stuff." I lied terribly. "Maybe we can do something tomorrow? On our last day before College starts!"

Charlotte looked, but not really; she just nodded her head around hoping it seemed right, and twitched into a smile. "Yeah, that sounds great." She still looked so full of terror. Almost like she knew whom I was and was keeping that a secret too.

My eyes flooded in despair. What if she needed me to help her locate where she was supposed to sleep…and eat, and everything? What if she heard the truth that I was Emma, the girl that froze her to a fate of burning? What if she found the picture of Cleo, Rikki, and I? Wait…she couldn't see…because of me.

So, slowly, and awkwardly as a clown, not that it mattered, I swiveled the floor till the door was about to part ways and I'd be locked desperately in moving space wondering why the hell I had said I was sleeping out. I knew the answer though. Charlotte frightened me. She frightened me to possible death-threatening situations.

Then her throat cleared, I stood still.

"You're not the typical blonde, are you?" I shuddered. How did she know I was blonde? And why did her annoyingly sweet voice and empty eyes horrify me? I looked her up and down. She wore a blue denim dress that hugged her body perfectly; She had lost ten pounds or so, and she looked…beautiful, without all those wicked burns; her hair shone gorgeously; she had a fitful of smiling habits; and to anyone else I knew she'd give off a happy hopeful vibe…but to me, all I felt was pure cold-heart terror.

"How…How do you know I'm blonde?" I interrogated her. My arms shook, until I clasped myself tightly. She must have known whom I really was…and we were just playing some game.

"Oh!" Charlotte giggled in a demented way. "I just guessed. When I felt your hand…I could almost feel what you were thinking deep down inside…. It was…_interesting. _I also got a vibe you would be the perfect popular girl…blonde hair, blue eyes, stunning smile…Am I right, _Amelia_?" To a tee, she was right. More fear, I felt I was still spinning uncontrollably on a roller coaster I had believed I'd gotten off of…but I was still very much there, with no way out.

"Um…look-wise." I grunted. "But I'm really not that popular…at all. It would…kind of explain why I have an empty dorm…and most people…just…don't like me…" Charlotte was now walking past me and into the lofty area I held a TV and a dull couch. I stopped talking.

"Um, Charlotte?" Was she deaf now? Shit, my real voice was back. Charlotte stopped to pause, then turned around. I didn't look into her eyes but into the dog's. I really didn't ever want to sleep with that cruel-looking hateful-shaming animal in my dorm. I wondered if blind people really could pick up on their hearing, and other senses. Did Charlotte know I was so frantically freaking out?

"I never said you _were _popular, Amelia. I just said you'd be a perfect popular one. You know the rich, so confident they come off as snotty at times…. The type of girl who seems all together, but really is hiding a mess of lies even she has yet reckoned to understand… These types of girls I'm referring to…They have the power to ruin someone's life, don't you think?" I didn't answer. Irony wasn't speaking; she knew. She must have. She knew I had ruined her life.

"Well…Goodnight, Amelia. I guess I'll…erm, hear you when you get back in from your night of…sleeping out, I suppose." Right. I had said I was heading out for the night, to…hang out with a boyfriend…? Why had I started even more lies? I thought they were over after that devastating summer, but Charlotte brought back memories. Would they bring back my old ways?

"Goodnight, Charlotte." I mumbled and was left to battle my emotional wars all alone in the isolated hallway. Where would I stay this night? There was no way I was going back into that dorm with Charlotte there, with that growling evil-eyed dog, a seeing stick, burning scars, and those amber empty eyes. But part of me wanted to get to know her…again, or really, for real this time. Charlotte had seemed nice for a little while; She was a driven red-head who loved both art and science and had a tendency of being paranoid and desperate for Lewis's attention. That was where the trouble began. Cleo's jealousy; Charlotte's nosiness and paranoia; but my own faults of unnecessary anger that had triggered the real effects.

As the door shut again in my abandoned scared-frivolous face, I mumbled off a slow and soft guilty, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what we did to you." And then images of a blonde hair, blue eyed 'Amelia' walking alone down the hallway, filling in her car, driving to the middle of a park, sobbing, and then falling to a somber sleep.

My last thoughts haunted me. Charlotte was blind and burned. Rikki had gone missing. What would happen to me?

. . .

When I woke up the next morning, in blurry-eyed fashion after a shake of my usual nightmares; I hit my head on the arm rest. And I sighed. My blonde hair was in a mess of knots, my eyes outlined with redden exhaustion, and my lip gave off a thin line of worry.

And there was so much to worry about. A mysterious messenger had sent me a message anonymous by 'R' about secrets only my missing ex-best-friend knew. Meanwhile, I had just gotten a new dorm mate who just happened to be the girl my missing ex-best-friend and I burned to a life of agony. Not to mention, my ex-boyfriend, one I'd never specifically broken up with was now a sex-addicted pig who rejected me and dumped me for rejecting him. And since the situation with my dorm mate was clearly ludicrously horrible; I had taken residence of sleeping in my car in vacant parking lots in weird parks.

And worse, I felt OCD. My schedule was all out of whack. What had happened to responsible, prepared, sensible Emma I had changed myself to be? What in the world was I going to do today? Definitely not hang out with Charlotte. And just like that; my cell phone rang telling me my fate of the last day of my real Summer.

I shuddered. I tried to tell myself that 'R' was a one-time-thing. No one could possibly go to the obsession of really haunting me of my wits, could they? Relief washed over me. Call from Mum. And then I remembered the gripping memories of how I had left it off with Mum before I had started College. I had told her once and for all I was done with these family secrets. The secrets that concerned Rikki. I had never thought them to be true, but it was all so sickly twisted.

Slowly, peering around my car; I pressed the green call button, and I listened to the awkwardness of my Dad's voice. "Hello?"

"Hey, Emma! It's so nice to hear your bubbly voice again, sweetheart!" I stiffened in the car. I felt a vibe of watching. My eyes shuffled for a shadow but none was found. I fake smiled into the phone.

"Dad! You're on…Mum's phone…" I tried for an unnoticeable giggle, but made a cat-coughing noise instead. I listened to Dad's voice so certain, so clear… How could it be that he didn't know what Mum had done? How could my entire life be such a lie? Both Rikki and mine had been. Lies. Complete and utter lies. But why had I had to pay for it?

"Yes, we, uh, know that we haven't been on such close terms lately, but Elliot's getting all his friends together and having a party tonight. I just called to say, you're welcome and wanted to come! You can bring around some of your friends if you want! Your Mum and I really miss you! I know Elliot does too." He sounded so happy, so naïve. Still to this day, I hadn't seen how it was possible…but Mum had told me otherwise, as life-altering as it was.

I bit my lip hoping to draw blood. "Um, Dad…I don't know. I really have some writing to get done, not to mention the fact I always need to be practicing for swimming! You taught me ambition…I'm really sorry though." I was. I couldn't be around my own family anymore without bursting to tears. It had been hard enough when I told Mum everything. And with a swift pause, she said we would be leaving Australia. So I would be protected from what Rikki's angered insanity could do to me.

"Oh, come on, Emma! It's one night and we're really counting you on it!" I tensed. I had learned I detested pressure more than I'd like to admit. "We're having the works! Hamburgers, Hot dogs, all the things College Students should love…?"

Why didn't I just say yes? The truth was, even if I didn't have those entangling issues with my family; I still had absolutely zero friends. Sure, I talked to people on the swim team and newspaper; but no BFF to cling to after a heart-wrenching breakdown. Rikki was gone, and we'd been hateful to each other for a while. And Cleo had changed in drastic ways I had never imagined. I could only guess what she probably said in her sorority-clan about the loser, Emma, who everyone backed away from with a scowl. I remembered some stupid quote about taking life as it comes and making the most of it. Maybe things would be alright with my family. Maybe we could still be the same. Maybe R was Rikki and she was coming back, and she would explain everything to me the minute she arrived, forgiveness rejoicing her eyes. Maybe the whole Charlotte-roommate was a mistake; maybe she would be switched. And maybe Ash was just drunk or had gotten mentally insane in the time before we'd met again. Maybe things could get better.

"Okay, Dad. I'll see you there." I could feel the smile that erupted on his face. And with that, I hung up, and drove back to College where I swore I would pretend to be normal. I wasn't a mermaid anymore and I had to deal with the consequences.

. . .

My family still returned to reside in our same lovely house. It was as if Rikki was the one that kept us away from the Coast, and when she went missing; we could return. And it was true. Without Rikki there to blackmail me in her spite; I would have never left to go anywhere. If only…If only…Rikki had never received that mysterious message…that held so much truth.

Just yesterday, I had gone to Rikki's Café, ending in disaster; Now I was going back to my real home itself; What would be next? Mako Island itself? It was nighttime now. I had spent the day, staying in the College Library using their computers to jot down all my horrific thoughts of the strange events of the past day, and that summer, that Full Moon; all the flashbacks, and for a moment; I had felt resolved. Until I realized it was darkening, and it was time to plan my party-look up and head to the house that just as it built me, could destroy me.

I had created a simply glamorous look; a green dazzling of sparkles short dress with sunglasses to adorn it a casual look. My hair was down and I felt precisely fine. Nothing out of the ordinary could happen. Only if you excluded the fact that I had snuck in my own dorm because I was afraid of the blind girl that now held it's wrath. But after that; I would go to my parent's house, have a fake laugh or two, eat some fat, then go home.

And now, here I was. Emma Gilbert reuniting with her family, and ready to be fabulous. I heard some cackles of laughing of Elliot's probable friends, and some chuckling of adults. This was it. The first reunion with my parents after I left…it had been right after Rikki's disappearance although things had been icy ever since I had found out the truth about Rikki and… Mum.

Our house was decorated with green streamers, and I heard the hypnotizing rhythm of dance music circulate the house. Laughs and smiles were everywhere, and for a moment I felt a happening of careless bliss…until I remembered I had no friends on the surface of Earth, and no matter how I felt now; things were never going to be the same with Mum and I ever again.

And then there was the stitch of my unanswered wonders: Who was R? And what had happened to Rikki? Why would she send such weird messages? Wouldn't she come home and show the world she was found?

With a gulp of complicated air, I took the reluctant steps needed to begin my journey into my lost home. And finally, a night I had willed to be normal, began. But it was anything but that.

. . .

A bunch of knuckle-headed fifteen year olds tumbled around the hallways and rambled their jots of pointless thoughts as they paraded around my house. The first person I recognized, as sad as it was, was Kim. She was arguing angrily with Elliot. I tried not to smile.

"Elliot! You have to tell the truth! You can't just abandon her!" Kim whispered with fierce fright. I stopped dead in my tracks. Elliot looked scared breathless, and Kim had a face of a smirking blackmailer.

"Kim! You know I can't! My Mum and Dad will murder me, and what about my reputation?." I gulped as Elliot scrambled to explain himself without knowledge I was watching every single thing he did. He was so much older. His hair was now more shaggy in still an adorable little-brother way; he had gotten taller, and more muscular…and all I wanted to do was hug him…if I knew what this weird conversation was about.

"And what about _Lucy's _reputation, huh? You think you can just ruin her life-" Wait, what? What was Kim talking about? Why did Elliot look so tortured? And why was I not demanding to know all this knowledge?

"Hey, Elliot." I gave a glare at Kim. "Hey, Kimmie." It still made absolute zero sense how Cleo and Kim were related, but as the thoughts processed; I was glad to have something else to think about. At least other people were having troubles in their lives, other than me.

"What's going on?" Who cares if I was being nosy and cleverly annoying in their business? It was such a relief to know Elliot had gotten past his good naïve not a care in the world days…until I would find out what he did.

"Oh, Emma!" Elliot shouted and turned around to face me. I grinned, and suddenly he grabbed me in a hug and I laughed. He missed me. It felt so good to be missed. Kim stood there with a cold hateful twitch on her face; her eyes lurked into mine. Elliot and I stopped hugging.

I never noticed he didn't answer my question.

"So, this is your end-of-summer party, huh? You must be excited for your Sophomore year in High School! It was my favorite year!" I said with truth, finally. My eyes dazzled in delight as I thought Elliot would start telling me everything; it had been his rule that we never kept secrets from each other. But he just bit his lip and looked down with a half-nod.

Kim took in both of us and hissed. "Stop keeping it a secret Elliot, I'm going to make you pay!" And the she strutted away in burning hatred and anger.

My mouth remained open. A 'what-in-the-ocean-was-that-about' was on my tongue as I took in every precise detail of Elliot's wallowing face when I heard a familiar "Ec-hem.". And I turned to see Dad and…Mum.

If I had thought the confrontation with Elliot had been awkward, what to come with Mum and Dad would be as bizarre as old people deciding it would be fine to walk around naked.

"Mum…Dad…" Words were impossible after that. Mum looked at me with a waiting expectant look. She still expected me to keep her dirty little secret. Dad smiled at me, his fondness that I came back home even for a night, shining through. Elliot just looked down worried, not paying attention to a single thing having to deal with our family.

Dad held his arms out for a hug, and immediately, I rushed into them, happy for the embrace. My family still was pretty good. So what if one secret shattered all I had ever known? My dad still adored me. Elliot still missed me… and Mum had no idea how to get us back to the way we were.

"It's so nice to have you back home for a night, sweetie." Dad and I parted and I took in my Mum's blue eyes. Were they more like mine or…._Rikki's?_ Did Mum even care that Rikki was still missing?

Mum took a breath and gave me a heart-wrenching attempt of a smile. That was all there was for that moment and the ones that followed afterwards.

Finally, Elliot's trembling voice broke the silence. "Emma? I'd really like if I could talk to you about some things…" Before I could offer an 'of course'; there was no way if Elliot even still wanted to have contact with me; I'd be screwing up being a sister to him. Mum shook her head immediately.

"Don't be silly, Elliot! This is your end-of-summer party! Go have some fun! Emma will join us in the kitchen with the rest of the adults." Mum concluded. _Adults. _Right, because what Mum had done was so mature and honorable. Sometimes, I wanted to blame her for all my problems. It was halfway all her fault…maybe I could have convinced Rikki the truth: I had no idea we were connected in that way anymore than she did…but she got those videos…of my dark days…and I knew, she would never believe another word I said.

"But-" Elliot was about to refuse, and I was so gladly adored for a conversation with him, but again Mum was now stubborn in what would happen. She pulled my hand, and with a shiver, I clung on to it, as Dad trailed with us; I was met with all her disappointment and lies.

. . .

"So, Emma; tell us about your swim team. She got a scholarship and everything, didn't you, love?" Dad raved to the parent's of Elliot's mates. I honestly didn't know why they would care that I was in Redleaf's swimming program. Shouldn't Dad be raving about Elliot? I still wondered what exactly Elliot had planned on telling me. I was honored he thought I was so trustworthy…even after over a year apart.

I switched back to the present. I was faking happiness at College.

"Yeah…it's great; Swimming's a lot of fun. I'm really getting into journalism as well." Dad chuckled and added some thoughtful comment as I took in every conspicuous detail. Why did I feel unsafe…and watched? R had said he or she would be watching…

Suddenly, Mum was clearing her throat and I knew a bombshell was about to hit.

"So, Emma, is there any boy news? Anyone we should meet? Anyone you should have brought here?" Mum's eyes were dancing in sincerity, but all I felt was cold annoyance. I crossed my arms and frowned deeply at her, and stared along the dark cabinets filing my old kitchen. Finally, I answered.

"No, Mum. I'm not like you when you were my age…. I'm, I'm not like you at all. Thank God, someone _else _is." Poisonous flumes spat out of my harsh words. Mum gulped and looked to the floor covering her chin, in embarrassment. And then, so easily, as it slipped into my mind wars; guilt inflamed me.

And Dad's eyes didn't help. If only he knew.

"Emma, darling, I don't know what that was about but I suggest you say sorry to your mother." I nodded with my eyes to a perfect vacancy. And I stalled into Mum's sad regretful eyes. It wasn't really…her fault. But then, it was. She had cheated, well…maybe not exactly, but she had lied! She had lied to much to our family…but she was so depressed when I hurt her like this. She was so regretful.

"Sorry, Mum…. I… I really am. I don't want things to be like this between us anymore." Soon enough, I felt the possibility of all the lies spewing out. So, for a moment, I quieted and started a trial of whispers. "Can we please talk? Please…? Maybe some other time…. We can patch things up…?" My eyes were hopeful. At one extent, I hated myself for the fact I was asking Mum if I could patch things up instead of the other way around.

Mum's eyes still had traces of embarrassment passing through them, but finally smirked and opened her hands for a hug. After being swamped in her arms, Dad was still giving us a glare of awkwardness. He had absolutely no idea what was going on. I wondered if he ever would know he had a half-daughter, and he had associated with her many times, and that right now she was as lost as ever.

"What's going on here?" Dad asked with a scowl trembling to a grin. Mum and I just shrugged and gave each the look of secrecy. She knew basically everything about me. She had needed to, to get us out of here.

"It's just overwhelming to be home!" I halfway lied and wondered what Mum and I's conversations would really be about. Would there be breakdowns? Would I cry my guts out? Would I make her cry? Could things be the same?

Suddenly, my parent's friend started talking. He had butterscotch colored hair and an intimidating set of eyes. "I can only imagine. Coming back to where you have so many memories of your friend…Rikki?"

I shuddered uncontrollably and looked at all the shocked adult's faces around me and searched for an explanation. Mum and Dad's heads bobbed to the ground. Butterscotch looked properly genuine; I just didn't like the fact he just blurted it out, as if it was a free rite of passage every human on the Gold Coast should know. It wasn't. No one knew what really happened to Rikki.

"I'm sorry! If I make you uncomfortable, I mean. I just followed the story on the news. It's just terrible." My vision went out of proportion. A complete strange thought they could walk and evalute Rikki's life as if she was an animal. She would had hated tons of people mooning over her, saying "Aw, that's so sad", wondering what could have been; she would have wanted people to accept the fact and deal with it. Rikki was gone. But what had happened that night? Was Rikki gone from the Earth, or was she someplace else, waiting to be found?

I fake-smiled and gulped. My heart was beating rapidly. My nerves had suddenly felt on fire. The phone in my pocket was getting heavier, and heavier, and-

I don't know what happened next. Mum was pointing to our couches with a hopeful gloat. I slowly stepped there dumbfounded. My phone kept getting heavier, and the blur of faces passing me by sent an uncontrollable jolt of terror.

Mum was talking. She was serious. I had to listen. Why wouldn't those visions of Rikki on that Full Moon the end of Junior Year, all of Charlotte's scars and vacant eyes, and the fact that every was secretly afraid of me…of what I could have done…. It was all too much. I wanted to scream these things out to someone but all Mum was doing was rambling about how Rikki was a mistake. Rikki! Was she a mistake? It seemed so probable, but life wouldn't be right without her…and all the disturbances she caused.

"How can you say that?" My voice was shrill and angering. "Rikki was not a mistake! You lied to me! You lied to all of us! How …" We were going so terribly backwards. "How do you expect me to ever forgive you with what you've done?" Hypocrisy lingered on my tongue, but I'd never say it. I didn't expect Charlotte to forgive me.

Dad came running to my breakdown, but I never let him tell me I was going crazy. After all of this, I had a right to have a breakdown; Didn't he see that! I couldn't even understand if I hated Rikki or loved her, and now reappearances of visions from the past…I couldn't bear it. I pushed him away, and was about to run to my old room when I heard a crash. And then my phone buzzed.

I watched the scene play out so horrifically. Kim had thrown one of our plates against the wall and was fiercely crying. Elliot looked tortured and hatred burned in his eyes; a hatred I recognized. Of himself. Kim was screaming. Her words were so rapid; I almost didn't hear them.

"You got Lucy pregnant, and now you're trying to pretend it never happened just so you can remain at your stupid pathetic status of being a good guy who really is a natural prick! I hope your parents do murder you." I listened to the shrieks of anger Kim launched. Suddenly, she didn't seem so stupid; Elliot…Elliot had gotten some girl…pregnant? At fifteen! It was almost impossible to accept.

Mum and Dad were rushing over. Tears struck Mum's face and I wondered if it struck too close to home. Dad looked angry and ashamed. And me, as shocked as I was, all I wanted to do was rush over to Elliot and hug him endlessly and tell him nothing he could do would ever make me hate him. His eyes showed so mercilessly; it had been a mistake. And who was I to judge other people's mistakes?

I was too much in my own mind mess to take notice how Mum and Dad screeched that the party was over; that Elliot was grounded and would be receiving huge punishments, and also would support…_Lucy _in whatever decision she made. I watched as tears rolled down his face and he begged for forgiveness. Mum was too disgusted to speak. And Dad looked like he actually did want to murder Elliot.

Had my family really gotten this tragic?

When I looked around my house; it looked like a party full of hell frozen over. No one was here anymore. Mum and Dad stomped to their room full of hatred-starting remarks about how terrible Elliot was. I was left in the barren room with him. I wanted to tell him it was okay, but I knew that it wasn't. Everything was falling apart and-

Elliot's emotional wreckage voice took over. "Everybody will always hate me after this. I thought…I thought that if I pretended it never happened…No one would know…" My face showed numb understanding. What wouldn't I do for my own secrets? I just had never thought Elliot would be the type to…get a girl pregnant and abandon her for the sake of keeping it secret. How did Kim even know that anyway?

After, taking in my shocked silence. He shook his head.

"I knew you wouldn't understand…" Seeing him so sad and broken made me want to screech. Not just for me, but everyone in the world who had secrets they couldn't tell anyone. Elliot had matured, more mature than most guys his age when we were traveling the world…but he was still that sweet kid who would have done anything to have the people around him smiling.

And then, yet again; my phone buzzed. And I got the feeling of death. My pocket of my dress was blaring. Why did I get such an irk… R…R must have just been a one-time-thing…some stupid kid messing around; not even knowing that what they messaged was all too real for me… R couldn't actually be clever and cruel…could she…or he?

When I opened my phone; I was grateful if not a little uneasy to see a message…from Bella. Rikki and Cleo's friend who had basically replaced me. Not that I hated her or really disliked her for any certain reason… She had seemed nice…but I couldn't really remember…what was forgotten.

I smiled until, I bit my lip, wondering why Bella's message scared me so much.

_**Hey. I know we don't really know each other that much…but, I was thinking maybe Cleo, you & I could meet up… I dunno, I just kind of miss Cleo, and maybe being together…could help. Plz answer. –Bella Hartley**_

Why in the world would Bella want to meet up with Cleo and I? Didn't she realize that friendship was long over. As Rikki burned through a disappearance; so did our friendship. Things were too awkward and all we could think about was her…and, honestly; I always had the guess that Bella suspected I had hurt Rikki that night. Why did she-

I stopped frozen in my tracks and frantically gazed around my house. No one but the shadows were there…and now a new text message awaited me.

_**I told you I was watching…I thought you would behave a little better. If there's one thing I might loathe more than lying mermaids; it's teenage pregnancy. You might just have to stop your little brother and his star-crossed lover from having that thing…before I will. And don't forget: I'm here to stay. –R**_

_**P.S. Liars don't work well in groups. Reunited, I might just have to come back and hurt you all. Pity, I didn't believe in Heaven. Maybe we'll all meet at Hell.**_

Oh. My. God. Nothing made sense. I went over every single word the text held in it. I looked over any possible clues to who this was and why they hated me. Charlotte hadn't been here, I could swear that but I had no proof. Rikki…Where was she? Why didn't she come back? Did she really hate me this much?

When I checked the messenger ID: Caller ID Unverified awaited me.

If R wasn't just the figments of my imagination, and I knew it wasn't: R had been here tonight. R had also been near Rikki's Café. It only made sense that R was Rikki. I always had dreams that when she came back she would have learned that even with the stuff I had done; friendships weren't to be broken, and she would forgive me. Rikki, Cleo, and possibly Bella, and I could all live peacefully after that. Life would be sane again. But…not now that Rikki wanted to hurt me. Rikki wanted me to pay for my lies. And, somehow, I knew R would make me pay.

So much for R being a one-time thing. As R had said, R was here to stay.

**A/N: This was a hard chapter to write; first real official one after the premeire: I genuinely hope it was neither too boring nor too long. You've got two doses on some secrets so far in this series. Be prepared for so much more.**

_**So, now your basking in Emma's oh-so-NOT clever thoughts. If she thinks she figured me out…we definitely have a long way to go with mermaid-harassing. So please, sluts and studs, ladies and gentlemen; be prepared. My wicked streak has yet to shine through. And when it does, these lying mermaids might have to run for their...lies. -R**_


	4. Cleo: Curiosity Killed The Mermaid

**Dying Comes With Lying**

**By: WillowSuzzaGleeee**

**A/N: So, here we are, yet another enthralling step to the whole terror of the truth, yet still, it seems we're farther than we were when we started. What happened to Rikki Chadwick? Why do the H2O Girls keep on lying? And even scarier…Who is R? Read on to get some hints, and possibly even the horrifying actual answers. –ZZ**

**I think I will love writing this chapter. I've realized I've steered to a world in my head deeply influenced by some pretty little liars and their own evil ruler: A. Some storylines might seem similar, but what really counts in the story is as different as two universes. So…enjoy.**

**BTW: Possible partly gay/lesbian scenes that could discomfort you… I'd like to say you're a judgmental pig if you're disgusted, but…I understand; it's really not everyone's thing. And not all people want to read about it. This chapter also gets a bit…graphic…for like…six year olds, so lets hope you can deal. Read on, now.**

**. . .**

**Cleo's POV:**

A creak pounced upon the door, as I was shattered out of my wanted calmness and into full-freak-out-ville, until Renee passed me with a sly burning smile, and opened the door to reveal the happiest faces you could find on campus.

Last night had been tragically strange. After my vomit for seemingly no reason at all, and after the terrifying text followed by a now burned and blinded Charlotte who I immediately hid from; I tried to tell myself all that I had been thinking before eerie cruelty faced down on me was true. This year would still be different. I would be happy. But there were still so many unanswered questions. How could I fully go on with life…without closure?

Not just for Rikki, but for me. Things had happened between Rikki and I. Rikki had known all my deepest darkest secrets and the only relief I had found when she went missing was that no one would ever find out about my secrets. Because…I had thought she was dead. After the forty-eight hours passed, I knew it was probable she had been killed…but now she was sending me a wretched text about the games Rikki and I played…well, I suppose you could call them games. But I called them mistakes.

It was hard to believe that I should go on with Tiffany, Sari, heck, maybe even Ashlee and Renee and pretend this year was going to be a whole new definition of extraordinary. And even worse, Charlotte had been in the restroom, blinded and burned as ever, and had just been on her phone the moment the wretched message had been sent. And then I was expected to go back to our sorority table, and act like things were fine and I couldn't wait to inspect the proper candidates to be brainwashed into our sorority tomorrow? Unbelievable. But it happened.

I only got a shallow, "It's ugly when you don't smile." from Tiffany. I had desperately searched the restaurant to see if there possibly was Will or Bella still hanging around but the place was sadly empty of any friendly faces. But at least it had been empty of Charlotte.

Last night, in the safe border of my sorority house; I had called Lewis. I had left a message stating that some rather weird arrangements had gone down. Things had been off between us but I knew he was still in love with me. The question was, was I really in love with him? But the question seemed ridiculous. Of course…but evidence suggest something else. Curiosity had killed the cat. Lewis hadn't answered yet. Something was very strange.

It was Sunday afternoon, the air was brisk and the sun screamed 'Today's a good day for love, friendship and disaster.' And perhaps it was. As my eyes followed the high heeled toes of the curious stomach-curling girls who deemed they must join our lovely little sorority.

I smiled for the first time for three days in amusement of their wide eyes and enchanted faces. This was all they ever dreamed about since they were five, if the case was they were a Legacy. And of course, Renee and Ashlee were leading them with knowing smirks across the dining room, and then to the bar-feeling kitchen.

Each girl gave me a huge gut-wrenching smile, and for the sake of their naïve hearts, I grinned back.

"So, here, girls, is our dining room. We like to gossip, accessorize, and humiliate here…but of course, the most action happens upstairs. Ceremonies, surprises, disasters, and tragedies all happen in our rooms…but, only some of you; the worthy ones will get to see that…" A sly smile slid over Renee's face.

I rolled my eyes and awkwardly stood up, ignoring a displeased face from Renee. Tiffany followed after. We had both treated ourselves to very healthy strawberry-pineapple parfaits, and we were both, however foolish the new girls now were, anticipating their arrival…and twisted turn where they would be forced to do some pretty ludicrous tasks.

I joined Renee's and Ashlee's inner circle of young girls, and flashed the brilliant smile I had been practicing. It told everyone I was happy, fine, and was not being blackmailed by some freakish. "Hi, girls, I'm Cleo."

Tiffany popped in front of me. "And…I'm Tiffany. Don't forget it." I smirked and almost let out an unbelievable giggle. Tiffany was even trying to impress hopeless College starstrucken girls begging for a place in a sorority! Then I realized, I used to be that girl, only I had even more problems then these girls could ever have.

"Oh, puh-lease, Tiffany; go get the lap-top so I can show them a bit of our sorority experiences, okay? Jeesh, you're pathetic. I feel like I have to instruct you to do _everything." _Tiffany's face went flustered and I bit my lip. Renee's words sounded so cruel…and familiar. Rikki had always made fun of me for not being daring and standing up for myself, which somehow defeated the whole point.

I looked to the floor taking in the likelihood of the day when a gasp escaped a black-haired purple streaked girl's mouth. "You're Cleo Sertori, right? I've heard so much about you." A confused scowl escaped my mouth. Why would anyone hear about me? Sure, I was a sorority girl; so that meant people talked. But I wasn't someone gossipers actually cared about. They whispered about bitchy Renee, or follower Ashlee, or even secretive Sari.

"Um, we don't-" Renee was caught off. Sari walked in the room, complete in gorgeous lace pajamas; a content look pounced through her eyes. And was it just me, or did she directly smile at me before she rolled her eyes at Renee.

"Don't be jealous, Cleo's more popular than you, R! Don't worry, I'm sure she won't kill you for that!" A smile crept out at Sari's voice, until it was shattered at her use of R. R referred to Renee, but all I could see was the solid black R that signed that wretched text last night. I took in Renee again; with her dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes; she was a pure bitch…but she didn't no anything about Rikki and I. I had it stuck in my mind… Perhaps R was Rikki, the only sequence that made sense; and Rikki was going to come back soon. She would explain all the lies and mystery she left behind…and maybe, maybe, Emma, Bella, Rikki, and I would be friends.

Renee's face went a solid gray line. And then Sari just smiled in a peculiar beautiful way. Then Sari's eyes flickered to me as if to say, "No thanks is needed".

Renee stared at the ground for a moment and lifted questioning eyes at me. I stared in awkwardness back. She licked her lips and returned her gaze to the waiting girls.

"Tonight is our annual College-Year-Coming Event." I opened my mouth in shock; Renee's voice was wobbling, and hate daggers were forcing their selves at Sari and I. Mostly me.

"So, in order to announce yourselves as possible Redleaf sorority girls; you will have to find the perfect dress, look, and date…" Renee's eyes were now sheltered again in shallowness. It was almost as if I had imagined her insecurities. I watched as the girl's squelched their excitement, until Renee silenced them.

"In precisely…two hours. Good luck." The girls stared at each other in now defining worry. I bit my lip and remembered my first sorority night. It was darker and more haunting than I believed this night to be. The first meeting had been a candle ritual in the middle of the woods. The sorority girls had blindfolded me with my only resort to worry with Tiffany. They made us confess our deepest darkest secrets. Like so many times in my life, I had lied. I told them my darkest secret was that I wasn't too sure if I was still in love with my boyfriend.

It seemed tonight wouldn't be as scary, and I wondered why. Renee had used to be in a whole lot into freaky stuff; then after our holiday breaks; she returned a different person. A bitchy one, particularly. After that, Sari had joined our house. I sighed at the memory.

"But…But we don't know any guys…"

"And where am I supposed to find a suitable dress!"

Their frantic voices carried on. I bit my lip hiding any possible amusement I found from their hysteria.

Renee stared at me and listened to them for a very long time.

"Tiffany and Cleo will help you. They have horrible enough taste…" Renee said slyly and wicked off a dark humored smirk. Sari's eyes followed Renee's expectant footsteps echoing the stairs, as a usual Ashlee trailed after. Renee opened her mouth in prancing superiority. She thought Sari would just follow her like the best friend she pretended Sari was. But looking at Sari's precise knowing annoyed eyes; I knew they couldn't be as close as…Renee wanted them to be.

Finally, she let out a desperate gutted whisper. "Sari?"

Sari smiled, looked Renee right in the eyes, and looked back to me. Why did I feel like two somewhat catty girls were using sign language to talk about me in front of my face?

"I think I'll find out a bit more about this…situation." They both flickered hesitant faces at me. I twitched my lips and looked to the ground. Alone, Renee was just a bitch behind a title and Sari was just a mysterious new girl that you wanted to think she liked you… But together, they were an intimidating pair.

Suddenly, a creak was felt by the air. My eyes whimpered around feeling the déjà-vu of being watched. Suddenly, it wasn't just an off creak, but shuffling footsteps. I gulped. Was someone in our house?

I stopped breathing for moments as I remembered the strange occurrence last night. It was some minutes after midnight and I had heard the same crack moments before. My eyes were drowsing off in stress as a mermaid in a bath, and I had swore the door had twisted open. When I checked all of my sister's bedrooms; they were all fast asleep. Was someone taking the dark measures to stalk me?

Renee clucked her tongue. Her eyes were swamped with tension and I saw how they electrified in worry with Sari's.

"I'll…" her voice wobbled. "just go see who that is." Sari was now rushing up the stairs moving Ashlee out of the way. "I'll go with you." I tried to ignore the strange out-of-character evil eyes they were giving me.

And then exasperated anger flew out of Renee's mouth. "No, it's fine, Sari. I'm sure it's just a pipe or something…" Then her cheeks flushed as the pre-sorority girls glanced with discomfort at the thought there might be a nosy pipe. "But, get to work, girlies! You don't want to know the dark punishment for anyone who seeks below the satisfactory. Elegant dress, Appropriate Date, Original Look. Or else…you're as good as magically banished."

_Magically banished. _It hit me. That was what Rikki was. For a moment, paranoia directed me. Sari had called Renee, R, and now Renee had said…magically banished… Wouldn't it make sense for that text messenger to be someone initialed R? Did Renee know Rikki? I shook the thought from my mind. It was hysterically ridiculous. Renee came from the opposite side of Australia; she was the exact type of girl Rikki detested. Even if Renee was smart enough to send off an anonymous text; she had no clue of the dark secrets R had harassed me about.

And then I heard a stiff cough come from an intruding girl in pink. "Could I come?" I tried to hide my hideous laugh. Renee thought she was amazing; only absolute goddesses could be seen with her…which made me question why she even allowed Tiffany to enter her sanctuary of mean girls…and myself. I had absolutely nothing extremely interesting that she could tell of one glance of my nervous broken eyes.

But, strangely enough, with an eye-roll to Sari; she smiled at the girl. "Sure."

And my eyes comforted as Ashlee, Renee, and Pink-Girl chattered as they went up the spiraled stairs. Sari let out a deep breath and turned with Tiffany and I to the rest of the new girls. And for a moment, I saw the hope in their eyes. They believed this was their ticket to happiness, perfection, and a never-ending friendship. It was easy to believe too. Renee, Ashlee, and even Sari were always glamorously adored and woven together by their whispering gossip…but if the girls knew what was true; that we were as sisters as half brothers…they wouldn't want anything to do with this.

Sari offered on odd off smile, and I pretended to ignore her rapid trying-to-be unnoticed stare, as I sat next down to Tiffany basking in bitterness near the new girls. Sari stood over with her arms crossed.

"Don't mind her." My eyes squelched at the stairway. The new girls still held their platinum disbelieving-their-fates faces.

Sari bit her lip. "She's just a bit cracked, but we love her anyway." I tried to hide a sneer. I, for one, certainly did not love Renee. I just cared that she kept breathing. To stop breathing would mean death…and I couldn't be near anything like that.

Tiffany glanced up at both at us and attempted a smile for the day. I pitied her most of the time. Why did she always feel the need to follow someone? Why did she want everyone to love and care for her when the principle was impossible? Why had I done those same things for Rikki when she was still…here? Was she still here, watching me?

"So," Tiffany's eyes fought to remain full of light. "For the dresses, all you have to do is find a classy dress and pizzazz it up to shine. That's the easy part…but dates…Renee is picky on dates." And then it happened. As Tiffany was about to say it was best to find a guy in a fraternity; screams echoed the house.

Sari's eyes steamed horror at me and turned fleeting feet to the stairway. And instincts screeched at me to follow. The others did the same. We pounded up the stairs to find the distressed happenings of a scream, a sorority girl, and a flashback.

The hallway went a blur until I found myself as the sickening disturbing…sinister plot. Renee and pink-girl's shattered disgusted faces at the powder trailing along from Tiffany and I's room to Renee and Sari's.

At first, innocent confusion baffled me. Why was there white sugar-cause that was what I had wanted it to be-sprayed across our house? Had the person of the creaking noise vandalized our house? That was, until, I saw the angry shocked vengeful look caked on Renee's face. And then I realized the drug-someone had sprayed the cocaine across in lines that ended in Renee's room.

Heavy breathes were all we could exhale as everyone slowly took in what unfolded here. It hadn't hit me, well, perhaps it had. Cocaine. It was the drug, the overly freakishly haunting drug I had first took, in my innocent days, and now someone had plotted it from my room. That drug, cocaine, it had come before the first real drinking, before destruction and the confusion, and before things had gotten really messed up.

It now hit me all again, the powder blurred with the girl's wide-eyed faces; Senses of Danger, Trespassing, Vandalizing, the Drugs, the Dancing, and oh…the events of that altered and changed every possible thing.

_It was the summer after Junior Year. Emma had left over three weeks before, and Charlotte had been sent off to a blind institution with therapy for burn victims; things were been icy between Rikki and I. She still knew the resort I had dreaded to in the era of Lewis's and I's long ago break-up, and still hadn't been able to stop it as my addiction; purging, puking, and all the rest. Things hadn't been wonderful with our friendship since the end of our Sophomore Summer, maybe a bit into our Junior Year; before Rikki found out. Before Rikki found me, in a mess of on-purpose-puking, insecure and balling on the floor._

_ But still, this marked the night where Rikki started to really set burning emotionally traumatizing memories of an era. The era before my best mermaid friend went missing._

_ Rikki, with a squeal from her end of the phone, told me to meet up with at the docks outside of the former Juice Bar [the one that had went to a berserk end once both Emma and Ash left] and to be discreet about it. So, there I stalked the ground, entangled in a black hoodie, and skirt. I could hear her giggles from a million miles away though._

_I had looked around with urgency and insecurity deepening as it always had since childhood when I was labeled the awkward girl. And Rikki stumbled out in the middle of maddening darkness. "Boo!"_

_ My heart leaped. "Rikki! Don't do that!" I put my hand over my heart until it started to soothe. Rikki didn't really scare me at that moment. All that night, I had felt freaked to a different degree. Something had screamed at me: This is an end of something. My paranoia buzzed my life, but the truth was even worse._

_ "You make me meet up with you in the middle of the night at an abandoned Café and scream 'Boo!'…Just a bit strange much…?" My hidden sarcasm ticked. But really, I wasn't too angry. Rikki was adventurous. If it weren't for her, we all would have never become mermaids. She was a person of oddity, but a good one at that. Full of mystery and intriguement that could just cause a disappearance…and had._

_ "Oh, Cleo! Your innocent life of naïve mermaid drulling is going to end…tonight!" Maybe I should have noticed the over-excited shriek that filled Rikki's normal voice, and her glittering over-the-edge sparkle of eyes. Now, I could conclude she was drunk, or high…or worse. Days were for plotting. Rikki had an oath to make every night count. Who knew what trouble she got into without me?_

_ "Oh, goody!" I smirked with improper impression. "Now, can you tell me why we're really out here?" Rikki's eyes deemed in suspense, until I shattered it. "Is it something about Emma?"_

_ Rikki's eyes went whole of anger, and now, if I looked so closely and started to imagine, perhaps a little sad regret. There had been almost a silent agreement between Rikki and I. Don't talk about the Charlotte-thing, and don't talk about the weirdness that was left after Emma ran from the…accident. And I had just broken it._

_ "No, Cleo! We both know it was just some odd coincidence that Emma and her family won a trip to tour the world…right?" Her eyes pressed me to obey. And it had been a silent oath that if I pissed Rikki off even a bit, she could tell anyone about my…eating habits._

_ "Right." I said full of bitterness. I knew that was the truth. Emma's Mum, Mrs. Gilbert had told Rikki and I, herself; the sad truth that Emma wouldn't be taking Senior Year with us. It felt wrong, a lie blurred with a messed up situation, but everyone kept saying it. So I chose to believe it._

_ Rikki's smiles of excitement was suddenly back. "So…you know what we're doing….Tooooniiiiiight!" And there it was, hurling back. Drunken laughter._

_ She answered my exasperation with an unwanted answer._

_ "We're sneaking in an abandoned Café! And…more hidden surprises, of course! We're all gonna have so much fun!" I squinted at her, wondering if she had completely gone over the edge of quirkiness. But, before I could ask, she grabbed my hand and led me to the boarded 'NO ENTRY' sign._

_ "Wait…what do you mean 'we're all'…?" And just like that; out popped out the demon of my awkward adolescence: Zane Bennett, and Rikki's true love, or so I heard. His shade of brown hair which looked absolutely bland and horrid on myself, was messed in a gorgeous disarray marked with his signature smirk. Zane Bennett only meant one thing. Trouble._

_ "Hello, Cleo." His eyes taunted my old loser-ish self._

_ "Zane's coming with us!" I bit my lip, taking in the pain as I now saw the irony. Who knew Zane's dad would soon buy the Juicenet and make it Zane and Rikki's own 'Rikki's'?_

_ It would have been foolish and stupid of me to announce that Zane still made me feel uncomfortable. Sober Rikki knew that. And she didn't care. And my hell of a reality sensed Zane definitely knew that._

_ "Rikki….you're drunk…or high…? Should there be a difference? I'm taking you home." Rikki's eyes taught a challenge. Zane looked like he was about to go off in hysterics at my demand._

_ I took Rikki's pale hand and gave a brave look to Zane. "You should probably go home too, and do what you can to make sure your Dad doesn't grill you." And then Rikki hit me and laughed. A mocking terrifically terrifying laughter. I felt Zane feasting on our interaction already._

_ "Cleo…don't be such a good girl! Don't you know girls who starve themselves are supposed to be bad to the bone!" Tomatoes took over me. My eyes started shuffling with the salt water held in them. Zane smiled at me. He either hadn't heard what Rikki had said or he already knew._

_ My emotions took the most of me, and suddenly Zane and Rikki were pulling me into the door they had broken out. The run-down Café was pitch dark, until suddenly I saw a pale hand shining as it created a trail of lanterns bursting of fire._

_ And then I was again reunited with two dangerously mischievous faces._

_ "Rikki…? Zane…? Please…have some sanity to realize this is stupid… Wow! We sneaked into the old Juice Bar! Can we get out now?" My eyes went into hysteria as I searched for cameras in the strange setting. It was all just a bit too freaky._

_ "Cleo…don't be silly…or naïve…or whatever fills your childish mind. We're going to do a hell lot more than see the remains of the Juice Bar tonight… You're going to keep this night and your mind…forever." Zane clucked, and Rikki nodded excitedly. Looking back on it, both Rikki and Zane loved ruining a perfectly serene night. But, instead, they called it 'making a night memorable'. And oh, it was._

_ "What…What do you mean?" The question was then unanswered. But now I knew, as sickly as it was._

_ Rikki pulled me to sit down on the ground, where flames surrounded me. Zane bent down with us. "Guess what Zaney brought us…?" I squelched at Rikki saying Zaney. Zane looked confused, so I wondered if it was just the influence of alcohol…or worse drugs._

_ "An arrogant bull of too much cockiness…?" I guessed, knowing that would be the least of it._

_ "NO!" Rikki giggled and looked into Zane's eyes with teasing allure. I gulped. The taste my best friend had… Odd, it had seemed at the time, but was it actually dangerous?_

_ "The first bit of fun in your life!" I gulped, and then she revealed the truth. "Drugs." Everything froze. And then she added: "Cocaine to be exact." Zane held up a bunch of small Ziploc bags filled with ill-fating white powder._

_ I looked at both of them, ludicrous piling out of my eyes. She had to been struck of some type of strange mental disorder…or threatened by full moon madness…on a moonless night… Something was clearly wrong with both of them._

_ "Have you gone completely insane! Drugs cause madness! Drugs kill people!" I screeched in disbelief. Rikki and Zane glanced at each other and seemed to sigh to pity me._

_ "What makes you think killing someone is the worst thing that can happen?" Zane's annoying confidence sparked up. I was shocked to silence. Now, those words haunted me in my daydreams. I wouldn't forget them. Dangerous Zane Bennett didn't think killing someone was terrible… He had way too much of an interest in Rikki to be automatically cleared off the suspect list. Yet, police had wiped them off suspensions so quickly._

Had Zane even cared when Rikki went missing? The last I heard, he had been sent to the hospital with some type of…burns. Then he disappeared of the face of the Earth, or so it seemed. It seemed too obvious. Why hadn't I thought of it before? What if Rikki had met up with Zane after her fight with Emma that night? What if he hurt her? Did he know where she was? I was put back into the flashback.

_ Rikki's shrill voice had forced me into the deadly act after that._

_ "And you don't want me to call Lewis do you…? I could make him feel so terribly guilty once he knows all about your sad pathetic…P. U.K. E.." Rikki smiled in her same sinister superiority. "Would you want that Cleo? Cause, honestly, in my opinion, puke is just as bad as drugs…wouldn't you say…?" I was forced to unbelief and watched as Rikki loaded the icky video of my eating-bathroom-ritual hysteria. "I can send it right now…"_

_ "It's fine!" My weaknesses crept out. They always did around Rikki. "I'll snort it, whatever… Just…Just don't get too out of control….I don't want you to die on me." _Wasn't that exactly what she had done? Or was she still haunting me?

_"Cleo…Don't worry…Drugs are the least of my future murderer!" Rikki chuckled. She had said it as a joke at the time. But, everything from her mouth seemed to have an eerie ironic twist to it._

_ After that, the regret had begun. I watched, frighteningly, and reluctantly as Rikki and Zane placed the rows of cocaine in lines on the abandoned counter of the Juice Bar. I was still freaking in thought if there were cameras. The shame of dignity for anyone to see…_

_ I watched them snort it up, and watched Rikki go and magically announce a little too much to drink in an unopened bottle of, what was new? Alcohol. And then Rikki waved that expectant glare, and fate was tore apart and shredded to my dark eternity of mistakes._

_ Things went blurry after that. I remember the swirl of eye-opening colors. I realized I was still angry at what Lewis had done with Charlotte. I was angry, and bitter at the Charlotte-thing, but mostly I wanted to beat myself over it. We had hurt her, really hurt her. Maybe it was Rikki's fault…Was that why she was over-doing the…drugs and trouble? It didn't matter, because as soon as the powder was snorted up my nose; I was spinning around in a happy dizzy matter. Nothing mattered except right now. And at that point, I was twirling around drinking up a storm with Rikki and Zane. Reality didn't exist. And I loved it like that._

_ The kissing had started normal; Rikki and Zane. A numb feeling washed over me, as images of Lewis passed me by. There had never really been closure for the Charlotte-thing; I had cried until five weeks after, as Rikki tried to convince me they could fix Charlotte. That she'd be fine. And that if anything happened, Rikki would take the blame; it was the truth. Rikki's anger got the best of her, and fiery riddance had occurred._

_ And then, the unexpected happened. Zane took my hands and slammed me against the Juice Bar wall, and his lips and tongue got the best of me. Rikki's image mirrored the background; a delicate look placed on her watching face. Not one of jealousy, or hurt, but of amusement. It was sick; she liked watching her boyfriend kiss her best friend… It had to be the drugs. It had to have been the drugs that allowed me not to push Zane and slap him, and run screaming for my disgust. But I didn't do that._

_ When Zane's tasty lips and curious tongue left my mouth, he stared at both Rikki and I, and nodded. It had been so sick and deluded. He referred to us, licked his lips, and exclaimed: "Your turns." His hands felt in his pocket for his phone, and was ready to take down his pants and go off in ecstasy. _

_ And I realized what he meant, and I absolutely didn't care. Rational thoughts were incapable. All I saw, was Rikki's gorgeous purple vintage summer dress, and the beautiful tangles that trailed her neck…and her perfect…body._ I want to cry _remembering the guilty sensation as my panties trickled wet. Rikki giggled, and her eyes gave me a challenge. I realized what I wanted to do. And then…as naughty as it was, we did those actions that now linger on what to call me at an orientation._

_ We pressed into each other; saliva spewing, hand-rubbing, and an obsessive amount of even more kissing, licking, and touching. Zane filmed the entire thing. I woke up, naked, insecure, and tear-splattered in Rikki's arms. I had ended up, in a sobbing matter, telling her all my bare insecurities about Lewis. How nothing could ever stay the same between us. Rikki just nodded, and rubbed my back and soothed me. It was the next week of summer; she started the mind games, torturing me of one more added weakness, telling me doing that was all some type of sick twisted joke between Zane and her. I knew I could never tell her, I actually…had liked the idea of being with her in the morning after. I had hope planted in my mind….Rikki had made it seem like I could be anything, and she'd still be there. I had a million unwanted fantasy dreams where we were together…and Rikki actually cared about me…like that. She had loved me._

_ But that wasn't right, was it? How could I be so in love with the idea, but at the same time so disgusted by it? I still wished I could explore a relationship with Rikki….but also wished I could take it all back. Lewis wasn't like Rikki. Rikki wasn't like Lewis. They were two opposites, only sharing the same shade of blonde hair. Rikki was rebellious, shocking, and thrilling. Lewis was supportive, reliable, and sweet. I didn't want these type of feelings; I didn't want those types of memories with Rikki. I was supposed to be her best friend, that was all. I remember crying for five weeks after Charlottes' burning; I've been crying inside for a year and three months since Rikki's…disappearance. She haunted me every single day._

And now, she…or was it Rikki at all? Was haunting me with our memories…or in my case, cherished regrets. Had they been cherished regrets for Rikki as well? Did, at one point, she have feelings that screamed real love for me? …But I doubted it. She had been drunk and drugged up. And Zane and her had been bored. That was the reality of it; I was just another drug they used and threw out the package to get rid of any evidence.

But, only Rikki and Zane knew about that night… Zane had gone off to some Private University in America, and Rikki….Rikki was missing. Yet she was sending me texts, wasn't she? Did she plot this? If so, why?

I was forced back into unfit reality suddenly: Renee was screaming at me, tears pondering her eyes, purple circles swallowing her fear.

"CLEO! What…the HELL is wrong with you!" She tried to sneer, but it came off as a hissy exhaust. "You're a druggie, now! Can you just answer me, why? Why now? And just…WHY!" _Why? _The story of my life. I bit my lips, tears striking me without an answer.

"They're…They're…not mine. Someone must have plotted them." Cackles escaped Renee, and then were followed by mean giggles from the just-graduating-High-School-girls. I gave them all dirty looks. It was the truth, believe it or not.

"Do you think I'm a MORON!" Renee's noise flared; her make-up dizzied: Secretly, I wondered why she cared so much. The thing was, I didn't think she was a moron, I thought she was a bitch. But would I say that?

"No, Renee! But do you honestly think I'm a…DRUG USER?" As soon as the words fell out of my mouth; they felt wrong. Sure, I wasn't a drug user…_now. _But the past had ways of haunting you.

It now felt like my reality was spinning out of control. Who would do this? And why?

I still remembered every single second of that ill-fating night, and I would remember the happenings of this very own present day. Renee pushed me to the ground, my cheeks blushed, tears crawling; "I could guess you have a hidden tendency to be an evil bitch…but drugs…drugs? I never knew you were so low."

I took in the scene. Renee standing above me taking away any dignity I had left. Me, tear-stricken, grasping the ground. But it was worse now; I had so many emotionless facing taking in the amusement of the whole planned scene. A thrift of suspects floated my mind: Some guys I had lowered their own dignity, a hating girl from another sorority, Charlotte…and Rikki.

"I didn't do drugs! These aren't mine!" I eyed Tiffany desperately, because as a roommate; she would know. But, in the pit of my breakdown; I knew she wouldn't tell the truth. No one ever did. "Why aren't you believing me? Someone put them in here, and snuck in our house!"

I almost saw a believing glimmer shine in Sari's eyes; her lips thinned out in intrigue of what I had to say. The others excluding Renee were numb and discomforting nameless faces. Renee was looking more and more like an evil witch that could tear my life apart.

Renee was steaming. "I need a word with Cleo in _private. _You all can wait for me outside." She grimaced, and I watched them all file out with absolute no real opinions for themselves. When had things gotten this terrible? Sari still hovered in the room, and angry exasperation took place in Renee's aura, and I was glad it wasn't directed at me.

"I can take care of her, Sari!" Bloodshot hopelessness was focused on Sari. "Just get out! I don't need you here!" I was awed. I always thought Renee respected Sari for some unknown reason. What if Sari was clingy but Renee was forced to like her? But what if they had plotted the drugs themselves? How could Renee be such a bitch to do that and have this meltdown? No…it wasn't possible. The exact same drugs Rikki and I had used…and that blackmailing wretched text message…too coincidedly scary.

Sari shook her head wildly, but then gave me a crooked smile. I cursed inside my head, and was left with worried desperation for her to come back. She whispered little things into the air. I had to cringe to try and hear. "She won't hurt you. I know it."

Maybe Renee wouldn't physically hurt me, but emotionally…what if she kicked me out? Could she do that? Of course, she could. But what about my new outlook on this year's perfection…but perfection was always shattered, wasn't it? Rikki, Bella, and I's trio had been. But what exactly did Sari mean? I never thought Renee would ever be on the verge of really, really _hurting _someone…. Then again, I never thought someone would want to hurt Rikki….but had anyone even hurt her at all?

Renee, once again, shattered her traces of sorority-girl-hatred by taking in the scene. Her eyes scorched me carefully, as if wondering the ponders of the mystery of a lifetime. As if I was some animal that needed to be cautiously but hideously dealt with.

"I know…Life must be…difficult…with everything you have to go through." This was not what I had expected. I expected her to screech at me, to say that I was permanently out-written of the house, and kick me in the pride, and shove me into the cold reality of the strange uniqueness of life. But, instead, she was…pitying me. I couldn't stand that.

"To be honest, Cleo…" Her eyes searched the walls for something, and then she sauntered to swiftly close the door; pretending her weird unexpected tears weren't there. "You've always scared me a bit. And this didn't help…"

What was she talking about? I couldn't understand how anybody could ever fear little insecure needy Cleo Sertori; the face of myself… How did knowing a girl who was the victim of a drug-plotter scare her? But, she didn't know that, did she?

"I don't understand…" She silenced me with a 'shhh', I wasn't dumb enough to not listen.

"That's just the thing, isn't it? You don't understand anything but yourself. Probably not even that. You do what you want, and you break things, and you lie…and you think that you're never going to pay." I shivered. Her words slit my emotions. She sounds so retaliatible, and menacing...and terrifying…just as the text had been.

A cackling snort came from her mouth. And then she hesitated into sudden sadness. I was still sprawled on the floor, basking in insecurity, and she was still hovering over me; a breakdown of superiority. And then, Renee slapped me. A burst of out of flavor character, that shot me heading back to the ground even more.

I was embarrassed and anxious and confused. Why did Renee suddenly hate me so much? How was this all about a misunderstanding of…drugs? Was she R? What was she going to do now?

"But the thing is…You will pay." Renee cocked her head, and smiled that sly coy grin at me. She turned away, and I watched her sleek dark stride of bitter confidence. And suddenly, I was shaking, and crying. This whole world was just too much. What have I done deserve this?

Except, then Renee stopped. She turned her head one last time towards me, and her voice was soft of words I had never thought I could hear again. "Just because I ignore you, doesn't mean I don't know everything about you. I know your secret, and I won't forget it."

. . .

I slumped there crying for an hour after. It wasn't that I cared about Renee, or needed her acceptance, but because of the humiliation for something I couldn't even pin-point the actual reason… All I knew was that Renee now loathed me, and that she knew my secrets…but how? And was this proof that Renee had sent that message by R? How could she possibly know everything? How could anyone…?

And then, yet another strange event of the day happened; after the terrible uneasiness of a matter of fifteen minutes as I started to wash and get rid of the cocaine, doing my hardest to not picture Rikki snorting it; Sari came in.

She looked worse than me. Dark flames of dented compassion withered in her eyes. She was shuddering in a lost isolated temptations located somewhere deep inside. I could see it. But I just lumped on the ground, pretending to ponder if I would be able to withhold a fake image of happiness in our sorority bash tonight.

My head fell into my arms, covering my bent knees. I wasn't crying; I had gone through too much even worse hideous humiliations for that; I was numbly having suicidal thoughts…thoughts that I disregarded. Cleo Sertori was insecure and foolish at times, but she never, ever would stoop that low. Life was too important, too…precious.

Sari sat down in a ball next to me as well. But her head was up, and she was staring at me intensely, throwing complex unbreakable thoughts my way.

"I believe you." Her sentence threatened me out of what I thought was my reality; the image of a lying sorority girl desperate and hopeless. I shattered my depression, and looked up. She bit her lip; she was now searching my face in hope of…hope.

"I know you wouldn't have done drugs. They wouldn't have miraculously fallen out like that either… But….I know you're not sitting here all alone crying because of that, are you?" I took in Sari's features yet again. It was annoying, how effortlessly breathtakingly gorgeous she was. I told myself it was annoying, and nothing else.

But still, I didn't answer. I just basked in the strange beauty that had taken it's toll on a day that was supposed to be full of fun, and those same unforgettable memories.

"Renee was right about one thing, though. You have secrets…and you may not even know it, but you're crying because of them…" I should have been angry. Who did Sari think she was telling me why I was crying? She didn't know me…but then she did. Her eyes sparked a connection that had unraveled…from a long course of me wondering about the new girl. "Am I right?"

It was only appropriate for us both to giggle.

"I…guess you are." Now, with a somewhat mindless compassionate conversation with the mysterious girl of our house; Renee being R seemed far away, almost impossible. But what was impossible was forgetting Renee's saying: "I know your secret." Did Sari know?

"Things have happened…some pretty…messed up things…and…I just can't forget them. I mean, yeah, we can all admit Renee can be a total bitch…but I'm just sick of being…humiliated…and sad. It seems so hard to avoid." Sari's lips twitched and her eyes suddenly pounced anywhere but at me.

And then, a sensation passed through me. My eyes scorched in shock as Sari reached out her hand and gripped mine. I stopped breathing. What made me completely freaked out of my mind that she was holding my hand so tightly?

"Renee's not as bad as she tries to seem…She's just scared…for good reason, but, perhaps she shouldn't be. Perhaps, we shouldn't be… I know what you mean. No one's able to explain why bad things happen." She sighed, and I felt depressed. I hadn't seen Sari sad, or anything but a mysterious aura of happiness ever. But now, she was leaking of hidden depression…for what? Me? Unlikely. Or was it likely? I shifted my legs and crossed my legs the other way. Something felt…wrong.

"You know that saying…? Everything happens for a reason…?" My voice was just above a whisper and even more timid than one. "Sometimes, those reasons are pretty twisted. And understanding? It's impossible."

I didn't know why we, of all people, Cleo and Sari, complete strangers, were talking about the mysteries of life, but I liked it. I liked to know someone was just as confused about destiny as me, even if the whole scenario seemed random and cracked.

She squeezed my hand tighter and I knew there was hope…and a bitter strangeness about this all. But then again, I already knew that. In what life did a girl have her best friend go missing, one she'd secretly had an inappropriate relationship with, did drugs, and to mention, the missing old friend knew all about the dark times of purging and starving, and then yet a miraculous year later; received a text message by someone impersonating the disappeared Rikki Chadwick….or was it impersonation?

I smiled, for Sari's sake, not mine. She cared, at least, for a moment or two. But was it more than that? Something changed…something was wrong. I had the scar revelation I would turn into a mermaid and all my secrets would fall out in plain sight of Sari.

"Just now…It's impossible…but one night…when you fall in love, when you are afraid, when you die….We have to believe it'll make more sense…or else why do we even live? Why do we put up with all this shit with no actual promise of happiness in the end? Because we want to believe, that in the end, it'll all make sense…."

And after this, we talked. Hours into the day. I told her almost everything, about Rikki, about Lewis, about my strange heart's ways….but I left out the things I _knew _I couldn't tell anybody. My old binging ways, Rikki's and I deluded night, and my curiosity that went beyond Lewis…

I was stunned, and slowly I took my hand from hers. And I stared at the perfect carpet contemplating every exact thing she said. This was all just a bit too weird for me to handle. Perhaps it was because…, because this reminded me all too much of some conversations I had with Rikki, during Lewis and I's first break-up, and then when he left…

But Lewis was here. He was my amazing boyfriend, that I had had a strange avoidance of lately. But still, I should be talking to _him_ about my on-going grief for Rikki, about the not-so-secret hatred I had for the attitude of the girls in my sorority. Lewis was the one who should have been holding my hand and whispering his all-knowledgeable life secrets…yet, how did this feel right? A strange sorority girl and I pitying life's messes.

"Um," I wiped my eyes, just realizing the trail of gooey make-up remnants washed from tears that had sprung yet again. "I should probably be getting ready for the sorority bash tonight…you too? I…Tonight's gonna be special." I decided with a broken smile. Sari nodded.

"It is…" Sari smirked innocently. "Put your head up, and smile…and anything can be special." Now, things weren't as weird. I was seeing Sari as a friend…not something else. But then she said it. "Be even more beautiful, if that's even possible to drive Renee to her absolute edge!" I gulped. And I watched Sari's tangles of pitch black abandon Tiffany and I's room…and my confused heart.

Sari thought I was beautiful. Why did that sentence cause such a stir? Why did I care so much? And even more, in what way of beautiful did she mean? I must have just been imagining things. Ever since that night with Rikki, I had been way too conscious of my relationships with…everyone.

But, all my heart could beat about: _Sari thinks your beautiful. Sari thinks you're beautiful. _And what do _you _think about that?

. . .

Soon enough, I heard the rest of the girls scramble to get ready for our darling little perfect first night of the year. And annoyingly enough, as I brushed out my knotted poop brown-looking on me, hair; I heard the distinct footsteps of Tiffany grab her dress, make-up, and all the wonders of getting dressed up, and head to another room, one of a girl who clearly wasn't as crazed, as Cleo Sertori must be.

I sighed, and washed my face and ridded my tears' wrath. I had too much to think about. And it wasn't even the start of my College Sophomore year. I remembered Sophomore year in High School….I had met Rikki then. Her, Emma, and I had become the best of friends. Now, looking back, it seemed like fiction.

Was Rikki back? Why would she have sent me a cruel message like that? Sure, Rikki had been cruel at times, but plotting drugs in a sorority house of your ex-BFF….? Just a bit too non-Rikki-ish. She didn't try that hard to mess up your life unless she absolutely loathed your existence…and I had thought…Rikki cared for me. Sometimes, I had wondered about Lewis.

I closed my eyes, trying to calm all my corrupting thoughts, as I pulled down my undies to pee. And then I felt it. I stared down and shuddered. Because, there lied a haunting in itself. My panties were wet, and mirrored of…liquid, and not a liquid that was ever supposed to be there after holding hands with a beautiful girl…if you were straight.

Sari had gotten me…turned on…? Was it possible? But I knew all too well, it had happened before. And I had never forgotten it. Although I tried so hard to forget everything about today, as I perfected the look of an unforgettable night of life…one that was for Lewis, and for Lewis, alone.

. . .

The night was full of a club. This club, so strangely named Wicked Toes, had been holding the Redleaf's Delta Zeta's sorority new-coming-year bash for ages. Perhaps, it had been first held in the woods, in secret, in the exact area where my sorority oath and first meeting had held place…but now, everything was wickedly modern…and drunken.

The new girls, who I had now learned some of their names, Lyssa, Anya, Lily, Piper, Hannah, and Summer…but then, there was more, wasn't there? The girls had run to my side, after my startling realization that came before me forcing myself to pretty myself up, and walk down the stairs and face the dreadful night, old people called the 'music'.

All of the new girls were attired in some ridiculously girly color and holding the hands of some scrawny freshman looking guy. Well, almost of the girls. There were a few lone ones, who basked in loneliness as Renee's superior smirk wafted them. I bit my lip, remembering Lewis's annoyed dislike of the whole idea.

Renee and Sari were yet again, attached by the hip. After all Sari and I had talked about, I could almost forget about Renee's mind-chopping 'I know your secret' curse, but when she looked at me now…absolute divestment raved her eyes. I looked down, and mentally crawled the floors. Tiffany's constant babbling served as my safety before Renee could pounce.

I checked my phone for the fiftieth time that night. Lewis had said he would be here, to serve my frazzled fearing honor, yet no ludicrously gorgeous blonde guy who also had an absolute love for science and discoveries was in the building.

I took in the beauty of it as I sat near the bar. Silver and gold streamers cascaded stairways, disco balls shined the room up, girls were being catty, and boys were being stupid. Oh, how I loved Sorority Events. And, I knew Lewis had an even worse amount of amazing dear _love_ for the twenty year old evil that took place at each event Renee planned.

I kept eyeing the doorways on each end of the room. I kept waiting…because Lewis had promised me he'd be here. He'd promised me we'd work things out…and I knew what would happen to night. I knew what I had to do.

"Having fun!" Sari giggled a bit drunkenly as she glided off the dance floor, wavering with some of the new girls. Weirdly enough, Renee had let her slide without a date.

"Oh, sure…being humiliated all day, and then practicing the happy sorority act is such fun, isn't it?" Sari nodded and cackled. She without-a-thought-to-it took my hand and was pulling me from my seat. I abruptly slapped her fingers away, and she looked at me with an odd understanding look.

"I was gonna ask you if you wanted to dance." She referred to the lights blazing on the other girls. I bit my lip. Tonight was Lewis's night, not Sari's. "And, don't worry about Renee; she's upstairs, wasted and horny for Michael." Michael was Renee's jerky on-again-off-again boyfriend. Was that proof Sari and Renee were definitely just friends? But…of course, they were. If even that.

"Um…I'm kind of…waiting for someone." I glanced at my phone and peered through the confusing flashes of lights and laughter for Lewis. But his gorgeous face was nowhere to be seen…. He was gorgeous, I could never deny that.

"Well…can you at least let me buy you a drink…?" I shuddered as Sari started immediately telling the bartender what she wanted, as she was old enough. She looked at me, waiting.

"Really, I'm fine." I slurred a bit too cattishly. But the thing was, I wasn't fine. I was dying inside, trying to figure out what I was supposed to be feeling. Sari was about to open her mouth in refusal, when she saw my flaming hazel eyes.

I pretended to have conversation with my dazzling dress, and wonder about my high-heeled shoes when finally Sari, not getting the picture, said; "Well, then…I'll just wait with you. Are you planning this night to be you and Lewis's firsts…?"

I shivered. Her physic-sounding knowledge was almost scary. I fumbled in what had once been annoyance. "How did you…? I…Well…maybe." Sure, I had told her about Lewis and I, but I had never said we were both virgins… Could she just guess?

"Ooooh!" She slurred with girly excitement. So…that meant she was happy. She wanted Lewis and I to be together. Maybe I was just overreacting. My wet undies could have just been from talking about Lewis… Maybe, this was all in my head. What if everything was all in my head?

"Well, have fun! I'll be waiting to hear all about it…well, not everything…I suppose that would make me a bit jealous." _Wait…huh? _I looked at her with defying shock, but she just smiled.

"Wait, what do you mean-" _Jealousy? Jealousy? Jealousy? _Of Lewis? So…it wasn't all in my head…

"Hey, Cleo!" I turned in utmost exasperated excitement as the familiar voice chirped at me. Lewis McCartney, my boyfriend, true love, and person I would lose my virginity too…tonight. I had decided just while getting ready…that was, if we could get past our recent avoidances.

"Lewis!" My voice sauntered. I was so happy to be around him. It felt normal and right, but not fake. He knew almost everything about me…If we exclude some secrets of the darkest eras, Lewis knew as much as anybody could hope to know about Cleo Sertori. And then, awkwardly as it made my head lurch, he kissed me on the cheek.

Sari smiled and smiled and smiled, and I wanted to kill her for that…well, not really; _kill. _

Lewis turned to face her in his normal good guy manner, "I'm Lewis, Cleo's boyfriend…but I've seen you around. Excited for another tortured year here at Redleaf…?" Lewis slipped his head in mine, and I felt we had an agreement. Things would be real between us again.

"Of course…and I'm Sari, but I'm sure Cleo's already told you all about me…" She quickened a glance at me, "but I should be going. You two have, _fun!_" She giggled and made her way stealthily back into the dance floor's lute turns.

Lewis grunted, and flashed his beautiful reliable blue eyes at me. We both opened our mouths at the same time. We both were spurring out way too many apologies. In the end, we were laughing into each other's arms.

"Lewis, I really am sorry! I've been spending too much time alone, and I know that. And it's not that I don't want to be with you…It's just that…nowadays, I just feel so alone." I searched his eyes for something more as he nodded and held me close. I wanted to tell him I felt like I was watching the world go on without me…while I was still lying there, waiting for the day things actually looked hopeful.

"Cleo, sweetie, I know. And I should be being there for you. I've just been so caught up, so stressed out about College," I had an urge to wonder why but that was just Lewis. "and, then with the news reports about Rikki…I felt horrible. This isn't going to happen again… As of now, my whole life revolves around you, Cleo Sertori!" I smiled in shrill first love. Lewis held my hands, and we were swaying in an off-beat compared to the jumpy rhythmatic trash blaring the stereo.

And finally, it felt like we were normal. We were Cleo and Lewis again. Lewis was the somewhat geeky gorgeous sensitive guy that adored me. And I was Cleo, the lovestruck somewhat awkward girl who would do anything for someone she loved. A part of me had been reattached. If only I could collect all the pieces.

. . .

After our dizzy sways through the hectic dance floor, and my giggling sprees, and Lewis's lovely flattering of my fantasized beauty; I grabbed his hand and pulled him along to the bar. Although Lewis's face screamed: 'Since when do we drink?', I ordered two Cosmos, and told Lewis I had a surprise for him.

Perhaps, he was right in the end. I pulled his hand to go along with me; we traced the trails in the woods. I slurped down the two Cosmos, and was just a bit too enthusiastic about our kisses. Lewis kept asking me if I was okay, and I had replied with giggling anticipation that I was so happy we were the real Cleo and Lewis again.

Maybe I had gotten just a bit tipsy on purpose, maybe I didn't want to remember tonight. But, Lewis did. And, I'm so sure, he would.

"Because, you know, the new sorority girls are just going to be humiliated…? Remember me? I was a mess…even messier than when Rikki humiliated me… Remember how she did that…? Such a bitch most times!" I had been babbling for a half hour about pointless things. But this had stopped Lewis's amused constant nodding and kissing my cheek's.

He stared at me, unable to contemplate what he should say. "Sweetie…how are you dealing with…with the news in the paper?" I bit my lip, frowned, focused on Lewis's upper lip, and imagine some blonde girl dancing around us in my want to be drunk.

"That's the thing…No one told me. I don't know what to think… Rikki…Rikki never seemed-" I needed to stop. I didn't want to go on about this. I spent every single moment of my first College Year wondering and driving myself to insanity about Rikki's fate…A year later, in my Sophomore Year; I didn't want too.

"Lewis…can we stop talking about this?" I waited for his 'Of course, if that's what you want, darling'.

And sure enough, it came.

"Lewis…I think I know what I want…tonight. And I'd be so thankful if you gave it to me." Lewis looked at me like he was scared I would turn into some vampiristic monster.

"What's that, sweetie?" Lewis fixed my wild brown hair back to it's place.

"I want…this to be our night. I want this new year to change everything…and I want us to be, really, I mean, really, in love. I want..." I went on noticing he still hadn't gotten it. "I want to make love with you." Why did blushes still attack my tan skin?

"Tonight…?" Lewis looked shocked, and so sure he must have stumbled into a parallel dimension, it was angering.

"Yes." I waited for aroused excitement to take over his face, but all I got was a freaked out blank stare. I stared at the yellow grass, and fell to the ground, my dress floating around me. Lewis sat down beside me; the same silence echoing our every move.

He touched my knee. Why wouldn't he touch more? Why did I want this so badly? But I knew the answer…I wanted to be able to prove…I wasn't curious, or confused…or anything, but normal.

And so, I probably went mental-nutcase on him. So embarrassingly, I remembered the following.

Lewis didn't say a thing, and slowly I made my skinny ass ontop of his chest. He looked petrified, but I shoved my own fear aside. I unbuttoned his shirt and slid kisses up and down his chest. I was coming towards his pants, when Lewis grabbed my arms.

"Don't." I didn't feel like trying anymore. So he went on.

"I mean…I love you." I closed my eyes and grimaced. I had heard this speech all too much on silly soap operas. "I just…It's…it's my choice…I…I want to wait, you know, maybe get married…?" I shook my head.

Unfortunately enough, Lewis knew me all too well. "It's not you…"

I finished up the sad soppy love story quote. "It's me. And you're just so special, I could never have such a valuable moment in the middle of the woods, or in such a risky time of our life. Spare me the lecture." Tears had once again found their selves in my eyes.

My high heels stood over Lewis. Salt water fell hideously down my cheeks, and I never listened to his assurance we could still be together. All I remember screeching was, "I'm tired of trying so hard to make you love me!" and then with that, I ran far, far, away from yet another memory of desperation, and the worst, rejection.

I had always told myself I would never look back.

. . .

This was the worst type of cry. I wasn't in the middle of a sobbing breakdown, all I got were these same lame-ass cheek-wrenching lonesome tears…but the tears…they never ended.

I didn't know exactly where I was. I had dragged Lewis just a few walks away from the sorority meeting place. But now, I was in a middle of dense trees and hideous monsters; my thoughts.

I just didn't understand what made me do everything wrong. What made my fate all wrong. It shouldn't be that hard to stay a human girl. It shouldn't be that hard not to fall in love with your best friend. It shouldn't be that hard not to purge. It shouldn't be that hard to not be the best friend of a missing girl. And it sure as hell, shouldn't be that hard to get your boyfriend to have sex with you!

All my life, all I had ever asked myself was: 'What's wrong with me? How did I end up here?' My phone chirped. I froze. The sound felt evil.

I shivered, and held the new text message open to my naïve eyes. And crumbles of tears scorched it. It was just from Bella!

She wanted to meet up by the end of the week, get back in touch…She thought there could be an ounce of hope if her, Emma, and I were all together. Perhaps there would be.

But then, my horror awaited me. A new text message piled onto new messages. I gulped, because the sender was anonymous. And I had a thrill, I knew just who the sender was. My missing ex-friend. But why? That was all I wondered: Why? Why? Why?

_**Sorry to hear your little sorority bash didn't go as planned, Did you enjoy my gift?…but you should be careful. You look lost, and confused, and as much as we both know you are-You wouldn't want some trouble to pluck you up and hurt you…would you? Oh, and be careful about Sari too; evil men just love it when girls hook up with other girls…and I know you certainly loved it. –R**_

The woods had seemed empty. Not a shadow echoed the place. And then suddenly, I heard a twist of ground, a grunt of a soul, and then those two dirt bikes whipped up the hill.

And then, they stopped. One figure deemed a look at my frazzled face and pointed to the end of his motorcycle. I heaved a sigh and looked down at my fragile mess that was called myself. My hair was wickedly back again in tangles, and a rips shattered my dress. I looked like the wannabe rape victim. And those guys looked like trouble, like hot trouble. Maybe, I should prove R wrong. I could handle 'evil men'.

Maybe I wanted to get myself in some dark trouble just so I could have something to blame everything on. And I did. And perhaps that's why I saddled back on the guy's seat, and groped his chest and enjoyed the ride as we trailed as far away from Life as I wanted to be.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the breeze. For a long time, this had been the only peaceful moment I could savor; speeding as we trekked through the woods, and out into the city; I knew the peace wouldn't last. Trouble had had a lust for one lying mermaid, right here.

**A/N: Just a bit too long? I wanted to include Cleo's whole night, or a fraction of it in this chapter…so I hope I didn't bore you too severely. Sometimes I bore myself with my rapid unwanted vocabulary knowledge…but I hope you enjoyed; this chapter was for you!**

_**As much as I loathe admitting it, Cleo's a crafty little skank, don't you think? Oh, well no? Is that what your weak mind tells you? Well, my evil genius mind says that Cleo should have been frightened and scared as hell that I sent two gangly guys on dirt bikes…I mean, who does she think she is? Doesn't she know all too well who those motorcycles belong to? But wait, Cleo's never been one to pay attention to the little details…that could tell her where her ex-best-friend-lover is right now, has she? -R**_


	5. Bella: Complete Chaos Of Wicked Fears

**Dying Comes With Lying**

**By: WillowSuzzaGleeee**

**A/N: I truly adore all of your support and feedback and look forward to even more epic shocking dimensions and climaxes to come…that will hopefully, in the lowest order, leave you scrambling to create your own mystery. Inspiration is as inspiration does…so read and review on, and karma might get back to you!**

**Bella's chapter…so expect the unexpected…but then again, with all my chapters, you should expect that. Again, I might have to put this warning for all my chapters: A bit too much of explicit content…but where would chapters be without explicit content? Boringville, instead of a strange terrifying mystery that will twist everything around until you must question everything.**

**So, go ahead. Read…and do me a favor…Question everything.**

**Bella's POV:**

_The end of that night, that very special Anniversary with Will, ended in mental chaos. For him, it was bliss. I pretended to speak whispering lullabies with him, and after a blast of passion, we fell asleep into each others arms._

_ But too much was pinning away at me. And I knew someone knew the kind of torture they had invested in as flashbacks… Bella Hartley appeared as though she was fine. Happy, excited, content with life's disasters. That's what she always did._

_ But inside, she was dying…and right before she did, she shrieked a scream that would never be heard._

_. . ._

"The first thing you must do is free yourself from your mind. Let all ideas become unintact. Float around in your inner madness…and visualize that time where gravitating fear took hold of you. You couldn't think, you couldn't talk, and you sure as hell couldn't feel anything….but the fear."

Miss Skye Taylor coaxed the entire lecture as I held my eyes tight, as slowly visuals took over my creative plain plane. Most days, Skye's lectures calmed me, put me in a fortress of peace…but today, with the item of fear on the tip of my tongue; suddenly dark looming figures shattered over in such gruesome ways; I hissed my breath and opened my eyes to the rest of the class, so serene and of no worries.

It was the first day of my College Sophomore Year, and the flashbacks of fear were haunting me over and over again. Not just of the long-ago shudders of before Rikki…disappeared, but of last night. The prick of my finger, the wrist sliced in secrets, and that terribly wretched note from…R.

And R had to have been Rikki…right? But why had Rikki come back? Or had she been here all along, hidden and trapped somewhere, and this was just a sick demented way of her calling for help? Or was it just some nutcase messing around…? But…no one else knew about…my…my secrets. And what had R meant when she said that she got in Will's pants first? That was impossible…Rikki and Will had been…good friends, for a short while after she saved him…but anything else…had to just have been a sick ploy to…do what?

Who would want to torture me with my past lies? Rikki? But wouldn't she want to have been found?

My entire night had been scratched after alarming untrue text message. I knew….it couldn't be real. Well, perhaps it could. Rikki was still missing as ever…but I suppose, we just all assumed she had…well, that she had…passed over. But, if she hadn't, why would she send a text message about events with Will and her that didn't happen? Because I knew they didn't happen.

I didn't believe the text message one bit, but when I returned to Will and I's room, [after sending a shout out to Cleo and Emma: We needed to talk], in the tiny little slumber wear and the prick on my fingers and back…I knew something wasn't right. At every single moment, as Will and I kissed, as we removed each others clothes, and I pretended I was fine; that an anonymous texter didn't just send me the most messed up message... I would have told Will…but I didn't want to ruin our special night.

And this morning, when seeing his overly happy, enthusiastic face shining as ever; I couldn't bring myself to tell him. But I would…in time.

I closed my eyes as Miss Taylor went on with her steady chants. I tried to focus on my Chorus/Songwriting Class. Although, really, Skye taught us songwriting; sometimes it felt like a physiological breakdown in here. At least…in my mind.

"The fear is gravitating you; it's driving you mad with no absolute way out. Your future is unknown…and it because of this fear…that takes away all your sense of reality…that you will write about. It could be past, present, future…It could be taking whole of you right this very moment. But whatever it is, you must give us your emotional breakdown…live….on Thursday. Now…open your eyes."

The entire class was peeped into blasting light, and I stared around for a friendly face to associate with. Sammy didn't take the class, and the others were too competitive to be likable.

Fear…this was what we were talking about. This was what was real. My fears? There were too many. I was afraid that Rikki would come back and ruin me. I was afraid that my sinful decisions would haunt me worse than they did now. I was afraid that Will would realize how pathetic I was and leave me.

But what did I want to write about? It would have been simple to create a fear, realistic enough but darkly fantasy. But I had been through fear. The worst of it's order. I didn't know how I had managed to survive.

I saw some images, unfocused at first; just small little snippets. Rikki laughing, the spring breeze, cars moving, smoke enthralling in a night club, a drink that slipped out of my mind, the screeching, his hands, his…his dick, and then the running… I wanted to never look back.

_Rikki threw her head back in cackles. I hid the annoying smile that immediately sprang out of me whenever she did those mocking giggles, even if they were at my defense. I tried to focus all my attention on the road; tracing the exact everything that would lead us to Sydney, and the disaster that was held in it…waiting to happen._

_ We were laughing about Will. I knew Rikki had brought subject up because she didn't want me to be thinking of the real reason Rikki forced herself and I to go on this road trip to get away from…it._

_ Even back then, I was secretly in love with Will. And Rikki knew this, as annoying as it had been. She had probably said something about him being too attractive to be straight, and that I shouldn't bother with him anyway. Rikki had always been a bit distrusting of Will at the start._

_ It was two days after I figured out Will only wanted to be with me, as a fish, as a specimen, and not as a girl he could fall in love with. I didn't like to admit there were some dark memories between Will and I. They were long forgotten and mostly were on my part. But, Rikki and I weren't running away because Will was ignorant, there was a whole other hysteria gnawing away at my heart, my mother._

_ It was the break of Easter, and as always, Mum had made sure to ruin any memory that I could ever hope to cherish. Rikki had mentioned hopeful plans to drive down to Sydney and party it up, and a part of me wondered why. Didn't she want to celebrate with her family? But the thoughts were taken from my mind, as I watched as my relatives came to visit; Mum get drunk again, Mum tell me there was only one thing boys wanted and I better give it to them before I turned eighteen, and then Mum humping a random stranger…just after she had a horrific fight with Nana, Aunt Lucy, and Ruth about…everything._

_ I couldn't take it. My own Mum was an alcoholic slut who told her own daughter to sell herself as a whore… Perhaps, those genes ran in the family. Mum had had me when she was fifteen._

_ Somehow, I had found myself running from our house and scrambling in Mako's sanctuary waiting for Rikki to come, comfort me, and offer the getaway of a lifetime. I had been sobbing into her arms, telling Rikki all about Mum's messed up actions, and all throughout it; Rikki held me, and for once, I knew someone understood. I knew she would do anything to make sure I wasn't as terrified as I was that night. Pity, her efforts backfired._

_ So, now, it was late into that night, two pm, to be exact, and my turn to drive Mum's old car to Sydney. We were getting close now, and I had known, or thought; something really amazing would change me here. Rikki's eyes shimmered that when we returned to the Gold Coast, I would no longer be the innocent quiet Bella Hartley. Something would change me. Forever._

I quivered as I stared around as batches of students started cleverly working on their masterpieces of fear. And here I sat, shuddering at the flashback I knew was to come soon. But I couldn't…I had done so much to bury that wound, and now to open it all for a stupid projected song?

I-Suddenly, I felt cold hands tap my shoulder. I shuddered at the touch. With two agonizing deep breathes, Cam, an air-guitarists sulkingly asked me for paper. He had this whole Goth phase going on. With an irritated smile, I swarmed my fingers around for the normal area for my back-pack. Behind my chair. But the area was empty.

My eyes flew in worry. It was only the first day of College, and I didn't have any work in there yet, but what about my wallet, my phone, my endless amounts of make-up?

I stared back at Cam; my eyes going into a worry of frenzy. Did someone steal it? Did I leave it at home? Suddenly, I couldn't remember. I couldn't remember anything but R's alarming message.

Suddenly, I heard a sharp voice. "Miss Isabella Hartley?" It was Skye, our professor.

I smiled with no ease, and raised my eyes. "Yes, Mrs. Taylor?"

"It appears someone has…returned your book bag…Would you like to retrieve it, or is it not important enough?" Skye's fragile petite face offered a sense of lowered dignity over me.

I smiled and hobbled over to her corner. "No, of course not, Mrs. Taylor. I hadn't even noticed I lost it, but I am very grateful." I said all the right words, as I always did; they put up the image I was fine. And then I sauntered back to my seat, in a weird sense of confusion.

Cam was still looking at me expectantly, and finally, I opened my bag up, to be floundered with piles of papers. I gasped when one in pink cut-out letters proclaimed the top. The message slammed to the floor. All the letters were in different fonts. But I knew what it said.

_**I got us drunk, Bella sunk like a lump. And let the evil man took her away. She screamed and she cried, and I even tried to fry-but Bella's ill-fortune got in the way. **_

_**For, she was finally raped-the lying slut she is. And now she gets to let the entire world pity her? Sounds like fun…just too much fun. You know I don't like it when I miss out on humiliations…-R**_

I didn't want it to happen. I didn't want to remember. But it all came screeching back, the evil that it was, the evil that shattered me, the evil forced on me that I would never forget.

_We were strutting down the streets; Rikki and I. Charges of giggles escaped our mouths, appearingly for no reason at all. We were just that happy, that simple, that content. Rikki wore a silver dazzling dress, while I put myself in an orange snarky shirt used as a dress above orange heart stockings._

_ The first part of our Sydney trip had been amazing-sleeping wherever we found a spare shelter, before finally entering a motel and flirting with the single-dad, arriving at tons of festivals, parties, and events, gushing over gossiped news, and making memories that would ensure we would always be friends._

_ For a few days, it seemed like we were the only two people in the world. I was angry at Will. Rikki said Zane was visiting some relatives in the States. And Cleo was off spending 'quality time' with her dad, and Kim: which basically meant Mr. Sertori was making sure they were all set for his and Sam's wedding…whenever it would be._

_ The thing was, Rikki and I had sneaked our way into tons of nightclubs before this wretched night. Sure, they were more like bars with already inhabited couples puking upon each other…but I could have never imagined something…terrible would happen…But when Rikki Chadwick goes missing…you realize that anything can happen in the blink of a second._

_ Rikki whispered something about how Will would be painfully lusting after me if he had seen me now, if he had ever seen the real me, the one that wasn't a fish. I sighed, and looked at my cuticles. And then Rikki, as she always did, knew everything._

_ "Oh…I see….You want to forget about boring fish-boy Will…and go wiiiillllddd, for a night? Don't you, Bella?" She sneered at me, and as a response, I snorted and laughed._

_ "If it's possible we can escape to a land where the Gold Coast, mermaids, Mako, Love, Secrets….don't exist….that would be…amazing." I said in glee._

_ The security guard was now glowering down at Rikki and I's fake IDs. I went by the drulling name of Amanda, and Rikki went by the sickly Shirley. But they suited us well…if you wanted to envision us as old ladies. The young guard looked at both of us, gave us huge long smiles, and referred to the crooked door._

_ We both cackled again in our mermaid delight, and I remember Rikki so precisely saying: "Secrets will always exist, Bella. That's what makes things interesting. Family, Love, Friendship, Murder…" She winked. "It's all about secrets."_

_ And with that, we had walked into the disco-reeling, chaos-screeching, night-mess titled Red Screech. It was titled that for a reason._

_ Moments forth, I was dancing like an Egyptian, and Rikki was twirling around in circles, making herself dizzier, and dizzier. And then, corruptively; a girl with pink pigtails announced a revelation. _

_ "Tonight is our very own…KARAOKE NIGHT! Who wants to come up here and show off their stuff?" I stiffened my posture. Rikki stopped swirling around and offered me a smirk. And I knew what was coming. She was going to offer me up for a performance!_

_ Not that I didn't want too…Music was my passion, but singing in front of all these Sydney strange-minded tough crowd….I was frightened. The audience was enormous compared to Rikki's Café, and the faces were obnoxious…_

_ When no one answered from the crowd, the pink-haired girl cried out again: "Whoever does gets free drinks for a year!" And then, Rikki smiled almost malevolently, and screeched out my name._

_ "BELLA! BELLA! BELLA!" At first, she sounds like a moronatic idiot. But then the rest of the crowd joined in, and the entire place was full of 'Bella! Bella! Bella!'s. I even heard a few perverted, 'I bet she's smoking hot. Her friend sure is'. _

_ And so finally, with a gravitational worry, and tipsy-feeling steps toward my doom, I stepped up onto the stage, and soon enough Britney Spear's 'If You Seek Amy' busted out in rhythm. And soon enough, I was Queen of Music for just a night in Sydney's club, Red Screeches._

_ It wasn't until some guys started shouting out, 'Strip! Strip! Strip!' that I realized, embarrassingly, my dress was falling down. I searched over the perverted faces for Rikki, only to find her sipping away at an apple martini, giving me a thumbs-up for keepings. What in the world was I supposed to do?_

_ I slowly took thundering steps towards the stairs of the stage, the repetition of _'Love me. Hate me. Say what you want about me. But all the boys and all the girls are begging to if you seek Amy'. _And a then, in the confusion, someone cried out; 'I'll get you knocked up if you don't, bitch."._

_ If I tried hard, I would have found some small forms of 'Ooh' pitying the threat. But none from Rikki, she looked…drunkenly amused, as her blond tangles stood on a beautiful end. I didn't know what to do or say._

_I was still holding the microphone, letting my dirty blonde hair get messy. It scared me, even now, what that guy said. Didn't he realize how serious that was? I made an 'erm' sound, and then finally: Someone saved me from embarrassment. A wickedly cute someone._

_He had orange flaming hair [I would soon learn that to be evil], and a charming smile to quicken the pace of your heart. And right now, he was whistling, with the devil's request._

_Slowly, with consent, the only consent he got, he took the microphone from me. He smiled, and Rikki opened her eyes wide. Then, he talked. "I decided to help this gorgeous lady with all of your absurd requests! So…I will first start….by taking my shoes off." I laughed._

_And so, it went. The crowd was in awe as they watched him go down all the way to his underwear, and me only to my dress without stockings. He kept smirking at me, and I felt hope crawl down under that there were more guys out there than just Will. I saw Rikki flash me a thumb's up._

_It was after the crowd disassociated, and Rikki disappeared…temporarily, that Ginger, the evil one, got down to business…evil business._

_I grinned at him, a stupid foolish type of grin that was to be only used around guys I could trust-like Will. Not Ginger…who I never even knew the name of._

"_Thank you….for that." I giggled as he put back on his jeans and left himself perfectly shirtless. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't saved me from all these pervs." _

_Ginger looked at me, and flashed me the broad, in-control smile I would always remember._

"_No problem. I hate seeing a girl worried…or with no way out." It was so terrible, how he was the face of an innocent guy you automatically trusted. I looked around for Rikki, knowing she'd want all the deets on everything Ginger had ever done._

_"So…gorgeous, what's your name?" Tomato blushes took me to the dark side. I know they did._

_ And, so swiftly, I told him my name. I said it was Bella. I was polite, demure, everything a good girl should be. Yet still, I got lead to the darkest pits of Hell-a place specific where only the baddest of souls would rot…in their shame._

_ Soon enough, Ginger's charm would lead me over to the bar, and to a drink, one that was resourced with a drug a girl should never ever dare touch, nevertheless drink….Yet, he allured me to all of this, without me ever knowing his name._

_ Soon enough, he fed me with lies, or so I now supposed about his dreams for charity in Sydney. And soon enough, he wanted to know more. And I was slowly slipping in and out of conscious…so, when he lead me into the dark alley right outside Red Screeches, and after he started unbuckling his pants, and how terribly he tore my bra and undies apart and mocked my cuts, placing it into my mind I deserved it: I hadn't expected to feel a thing. I thought I would have fallen into death's temporary sleep…but too sickly, I had felt it all. Every single sickening action, shudder, suck, swallow and thrust….Every part of me screamed, I'd rather die than be here._

_ He would have carried on till morning. And eventually, I probably would have closed my eyes, and swore that it was Will, and that we were just being rough, and that we were in love….when in fact, a terrible stranger was raping me. But then he stopped. Because fire was swarming around him like law sizzles._

_ The fire took hold of his pants, and on his shoes that were still located on him. And I heard his gasp as he started rolling away, eventually leading the fire astray when he'd still be emotionally-wondered. But that was nothing. Nothing compared to the fact that you had just been raped from a stranger, and your best friend saved you from even more of the torture._

_ I ran into Rikki's arms. And I sobbed. I told her everything. All my deepest desires, all my secretive lies, and all my darkest fears….but she already knew.  
><em>

My darkest fear had been conquered that night. And I had never stopped wrecking myself in it.

And as I looked around, about to struggle the memory on a piece of paper; students shattered the disturbing silence and raced into the halls of possibilities; class had ended and my head was twisted in visions of the dark demented past…that someone else knew about, but who?

. . .

As, awkwardly as possible, I trembled down Redleaf's college hallways, pretending I was just the typical Redleaf student racing for the fatty foods in the cafeteria.

That was where the normality of my life continued; where I would thrift in Sammy, Rob, Will's and I conversations that had taken place in the last few months where I had actually been that girl-you know, the perfect one with a passion for singing, a love to die for, and human friends, and not the girl who had got haunted by a past and a lie from who she supposed to be her vanished ex-best friend. I had a plan, sort of….R would never contact me again. It was a fluke, and life would go on..., but those same fears crept in to ask-What if R was for real and really, really wanted to haunt my existence?

I passed the fleeing people around me, knowing I was late. I savored their easy-going smiles. It was the first day, for sakes…I shouldn't have been this stressed. I should have been…happy. Bella Hartley was known for it.

I thumbed with my disappointment and confusion as I saw that only Sammy, and the strange sight she brought with her-instead of Will-was Lucas and his awkwarded out mingling, and a girl… She was beautifully horrific. She had the most gorgeous colour of red shining in the locks of her hair, and pretty pale skin…lined with scars…burns. She closed her eyes and stared to a German Sheppard dog laying at her feet, as Sammy chuckled something into her ear.

For a moment, I felt a threat. What if this burnt girl was Sammy's new best friend to gush randomness with coffee? But it passed quickly, and pity took over. That or, I was self-assured when Sammy smiled, waved, and pointed to my usual order she had gotten for me…right next to burnt girl…

"Hey!" I ignored the weird look by Lucas [He had a problem with happiness], mentally hoped he would soon tell me it was him who planted the wrist, and the cuts…and the letter opener, and then stared at the burnt girl…waiting for an introduction. And then I realized why her dog was there; she was blind.

Sammy spoke in front of my shock. "Bella, this is Charlotte. She's in my arts class. Charlotte, my friend, Bella is here. She's pretty with dirty blonde hair with blue eyes and tan skin." I bit my lip, wondering if it made Charlotte sad that she needed someone else to describe how I looked.

But, Charlotte didn't seem to mind. She was smiling and she looked genuinely happy. So, for no one's sake, since she couldn't…see, I smiled back. "And this is Ruffles." She referred to her dog.

"I hear you're into music, …songwriting? That takes guts to do. Sammy was reading me some of your work…It's so beautiful. It just grabs you, and tells…the truth. I can tell you have real talent." In that moment, she was right. I had real talent…on putting on an act.

But…her words sliced me a little slither of hope. Talented people didn't end up in mysteries, right? That was just the lying people… And then the talented lying people…? They were everywhere.

"Oh, thank you!" My heart tanked with sincerity. Most people would say 'Cool' then go on with the conversation, when I revealed I was hoping to be a songwriter and/or professional singer one day.

"It means so much…I've been trying to…tell the truth in my songs. It's my only outlet…to just…be. Without judge, without suspension, without life's…rules…" Charlotte petted her German Sheppard, Ruffles, and nodded…as if she could see.

"It's kind of like me with art. Art doesn't claim, hurt, or judge…it just is." Charlotte made sense…in an irrational good way. I looked to Sammy, who was smiling. She was always the type of girl who would do anything to help the fellow loner…

"I agree…" Charlotte's eyes fully opened now, as if they were inviting me to ask what really happened to her, but it seemed to fresh. "So," My voice went timid, "This is you're first year…I'm assuming you're a Sophomore like us…?"

Lucas grunted, Sammy sighed, Charlotte tapped her finger, and I waited…for the hopeful story of what really happened to her. But it didn't come.

"Yep. This is my first year at Redleaf, I took my Freshman year at…a blind institution after I finished recovering." She admitted it with such stride, as if it were as carefree as saying you had a pool party.

I nibbled on the sausage-pepperoni-cheese pelted pizza, and pretended smacking was my fulltime job as I waited for Sammy to say something, or hell, even Lucas, who's unsocial ways could lead him to extinction. But no one uttered a word…so I resorted to the real question ticking away at my mind.

"So….where's Will and Rob?" Sammy's eyes flickered; glad the subject was changed. Lucas grunted, and looked at his shoes, stuffing down some cheese, and Charlotte just bit her lip.

When no one answered yet again, and we were all staring at each other, Lucas muttered, "I think they went off on a class trip or something…educational." That didn't make sense. Will would have told me… He always did. If only I could say the same about me…that there were absolutely no secrets between us…

"Oh…" I pretended to go along with it. I knew I would find Will later, and he would explain the terrible disaster that kept him from having lunch with his beautiful girlfriend-his words, not mine.

"Did…Well, Lucas," My eyes squinted at Charlotte, and then at Sammy. "Did you…have some type of cut wrist in the bathroom the other day?" I waited for his assurance it was a stupid prank, a mean one, to freak the day of Will and I's anniversary.

"What…? No." Lucas chuckled in amusement, and Sammy checked her phone what was probable the eightieth time that day. I bit my lip. If Lucas hadn't plotted that there for a scare…then who did, and why?

A fantastic bark interrupted my mind sense; Ruffles was barking furiously as Charlotte shuffled with something in her…colorful bag. She gently soothed Ruffles by whispering unheard words…I got a shiver even before I saw _it. _

And afterwards, I couldn't breathe. Charlotte taken out a photograph, one of Rikki, Cleo, and Emma Gilbert of memories ago. And, so twisted, it was, she had used a deep red pen to separate them…and put exes through their eyes. She heard my jagged breathing soon enough, and turned to me. Which shouldn't have been possible…because she couldn't see.

She traced the outlines again, and smiled a sad smile. My heart riveted. How did she know Rikki, Cleo and Emma? Who was she?

"You know, you can ask me what happened to me. It's not the burnt rules to not put into effect…I am blind and burnt…don't you want to know why…_Bella_?" My heart skipped a beat. She had put so much emphasis on my name, and suddenly I got jolts of remembrance when Cleo told me the story of an evil girl who stole Lewis and became a mermaid…one named…Charlotte? Was it true?

When I didn't answer, for I was occupied with odd stare; Sammy giggled awkwardly and said that we should all accept each other for whom we are…but to not treat each other that differently for it. And then, Sammy checked her phone. And I was put into epic vision.

I took notice of every single thing, suddenly. Charlotte's steady twitches, Sammy's repetitive flicking of hair, and Lucas's staring off to the side…right at a fraternity guy having a fight with his girlfriend. And then, my questioning beliefs spiraled out of control.

"Someone burned you, didn't they? Someone hurt you…for revenge…? She was always playing with fire, but it went too far, it-" I was interrupted, while searching Charlotte's now frantic picking of her nails, when a slow, steady, and awkward voice shattered my revelation.

"Char…Charlotte…?" She had slowed it, and she tried a different dialect, but I knew it was too familiar. The voice belonged to Emma Gilbert. She held her tray of spaghetti and stared down at her shoes, before giving me an incredulous look, "Bella!"

"Amelia?" Charlotte questioned, still shaken by my interrogation.

Confusion baffled me. "Amelia? Don't you mean," Emma tried to screech out a 'No', but it was too late, "Emma?"

Charlotte gasped. "Emma…Gilbert." Her voice wreaked of accusation.

I bit my lip, knowing something was certainly not right. But the complex faces told a tale that couldn't be explain with a whip of magic, it took secret hidden wraths and a practiced liar or two to tell this story…but what was it?

Had Emma come to talk to me? So we could vent our inner-troubles of Rikki with Cleo?

"Well…" Lucas smirked. "Somebody seems to be lying here. I got to go…Séances to ruin and shit like that. Have fun with your lying games."

And, just like that, our time was up.

"Emma Gilbert, Isabella Hartley, and Cleo Sertori are to report to the dean's office as soon as possible. The reasons are severe."

And suddenly, Emma grabbed my hand, shying away from Charlotte's terrified amber eyes. I nodded to her, and for some reason, I whispered things would be okay, and we left the Cafeteria. All eyes on us, but I'd never forget the most important, the most haunting pair: Charlotte Watsford's eyes screeched secret agony, all before, she crumbled out the room, and Sammy ran after her.

Something was definitely not right. And now the dean wanted to see what was left of the secretive clique of mermaids? And Will wasn't even hear to lie and tell me it was all okay? Complete chaos.

. . .

Emma and I slowly walked to our final destination. We hadn't said a word the way here, yet there was a mutual understanding. We all had our secrets, and perhaps, in time, we'd be friendly enough to take a whack at sharing them…but for now, fate sealed trouble and was sending it our way.

"Why do you think they called us down here?" I searched the hallways for a Cleo to rush to and hug. It seemed like we'd been apart for ages.

"I…have no idea." Except, her eyes told that she did have an idea. Emma paced for a split-second. And then she stopped. "You don't think…Charlotte could have told on us…?"

"What?" I didn't understand. "You can't get in trouble for creating a fake name…" Emma's eyes went lost, and then she nodded, putting the act she was sure I was right.

"We…We should wait for Cleo." Emma decided, and sat on the wooden bench right outside the dean's office. I stood, eyes flickering for something… Maybe I just wasn't used to being without Will this long…. Rikki would have hated that thought.

"So…you wanted, Cleo, you, and I….to talk…?" I bit my lip. So she had been coming to my table to bring up the dreaded conversations we had never had.

"Yeah…I just thought…It's been a long while…for all of us. And…it never hurts to talk." Emma smiled. And I wondered about her. The unlikely person who knew her name would refer to her as the loner swimmer girl… The one I had wondered about: How had she lost her powers? But the question seemed long forgotten.

Suddenly, both our phones beeped. And I got an alarmingly sick feeling in my stomach. My positive side told me it was Will explaining where he was, and that it was Emma's roommate or something…but the negative side _knew. _

I took out my phone, with a look at Emma's horrific face. She looked even more frightened then I felt. I gulped. And it was like our hearts were beating together. And, there my message read.

_**Don't forget…None of you are innocent in my whereabouts. Not one. So don't go telling the cops lies…like you did to everyone else. -R**_

I searched Emma's face, but she had it set to numb…and I thought I knew. Rikki was sending us text messages, making us feel guilty, haunting our horrors…all of us. And I knew we'd have to find out why.

I was about to ask, but something shattered the pregnant moment.

The door in front of us slammed to reveal an intimidating cop. His eyes were fierce, and his style suspicious. I almost stopped breathing. Emma gasped. Why were the police here? But the cop had questions for us.

"Girls! What are you doing out here….Emma Gilbert….Bella Hartley…?" The man furrowed his brow, slowly recognizing us and taking it in. "Get inside."

I was shocked to silence but Emma immediately floundered, "We were just waiting for Cleo, sir. So we could go in together…."

He nodded and referred to the office. "I think you'll need each other for what's about to come your way…." And I shivered. I knew Emma heard him too.

But slowly enough, we settled into the chairs, waiting for a fashionably late Cleo Sertori, so the cops could tell us some dooming news, and ask us way too many questions. And, oh, they did.

Before they told us why we were really here, the events passed as a blur. Cleo raced in, blushing, wide-eyed, confused, and distressed. She held a million papers for classes, her purple dress seemed rearranged, and her hair was in new tangles I had yet to see before.

Cleo sat down and sent both Emma and I, fleeting looks. We all stared down…waiting for the two cops to tell us why they were here, and how it concerned us.

. . .

"I'm Officer Morgan, this is Officer Stawerberry." Morgan referred to the short haired blonde woman eyeing us with a thing I regarded as hatred. He paused, and then it all came.

"We came here, today, to question you all about January 7th, the night Rikki Chadwick allegedly disappeared. You better pay close attention to what you reveal to us, today, because it will be closely studied. I assure you, as the new detective of his case, I will find out every single secret that had an effect in Rikki's life… Just be real careful you tell the right stories."

Officer Morgan said stories, but I couldn't help but think lies.

**A/N: None of them are innocent…Are you? You would be if you reviewed…or, perhaps not. Who wants to be innocent anyway, throw your secrets into the world of lies…and review. It's a trip to a fantastic dark exhilaration side…that I'm sure you won't regret. And what's more-You'll have more pretty little mermaids at your fingertips sooner! So…review!**


	6. Emma: Locating Rikki Chadwick

**Dying Comes With Lying**

**By: WillowSuzzaGleeeee **

**A/N: Perhaps, I should have had more developing in the last chapter, because for the secretive freak-out's you're about to explore in this chapter; my chapters are dually unequal…but…hey-You can't choose when you end a chapter…it just ends. But, keep in mind, this is more than a chapter-it's yet another large piece of a mystery, ready to twirl and break your reason to pieces.**

**Emma's POV:**

I took a gasp as Cleo, Bella and I stared together in unity. One glance at each other, and I knew they knew that they could never ever tell about Rikki and I's fight last night, both our strange disappearances, because it would lead these cops straight to questioning me.

Officer Morgan smiled, too slowly for it to be anything like genuine. Officer Stawerberry stilled stared, at us, hate brimming her eyes. "So…let's begin. What happened the night Rikki allegedly went missing?"

I gulped. I heard either Bella or Cleo let out a creak. Didn't these cops see it was too complicated? But didn't they see that we would never ever hurt Rikki….well, I never would have in my right mind.

We both took turns gazing at each other, and the two officers grunted with dying patience. I was the first to speak. "Cleo, Bella, and Rikki were having a Graduation Slumber Party. I…I wanted to see them at the end of their graduations since I had moved away a year before." That was the bitter end of my tale, because I could remember no more.

"And…why did Rikki, quote on quote, unexpectedly leave Miss Sertori's house?" No one said a word, especially not me. I lied as the most obvious suspect, one who didn't remember a second of that night, except for what Cleo and Bella frightfully told me.

"She was angry at us." Cleo finally piped up. She said the word _us _with a sour taste in her mouth, but it was better than saying Emma, who, coming from her worrisome mind, couldn't form even one thought from that night. "We were all going off to College, and she was going to stay on the Gold Coast…She got sick of us talking about it…and she snapped."

"Hmmm….really?" We all had faces of untouchable fierce and played out expressions, that we're all so plastic, and I knew the cops could see through that. "There wasn't any drinking or drug use going on that night, was there, ladies?"

Bella stifled a cough. "Of course, not." Her lying skills were better crafted. "We told you all of this a year ago…." She said, rushing for this to end. And I remembered. Just a little more than a year ago…how could everything had been so fine then? How could Rikki have been laughing and smirking in her usual slick demeanor…taking the world as it came, and always winning the battles of life…?

I didn't want to face a possible reality. But it hit every force of me almost every moment. What if someone had actually _killed _Rikki? What if I had seen it and now have no possible way to remember? What if Rikki's mystery and skeletons stays secret…forever? What if that's all Rikki'll ever be? The girl who went missing on her Graduation Party. The Girl No One Knows What Happened To. The girl that had a million little secrets of her own, ones that only the worst could care for. What if her body was lying in the middle of some garbage, rotting away, without love or care or grief?

The final reality of what-if's hit me, and I was shocked…but in this life, it seemed I was always. This was real; it was happening right now. The cops were asking two mermaids and I about the night where my ex-best friend vanished…

"I'm sure, and I intend to go over every precise statement you girls told us that morning…" I gulped. I could hardly remember every single thing I said. But worse, I knew that most of what I had said was probably lies. Rikki, Bella, and Cleo had drank. I had come as a distraught moonstruck mermaid, not as a visitor. And I possibly held the visual key to what happened to Rikki that night…yet the moon's effects thrifted me out of it. Was it my fault that everything was so fucked up?

Officer Stawerberry interrupted my thoughts for the first time in this sitting.

"Did Rikki ever seem…sad? Did she ever talk about running away?" Came the throaty intensified voice of Stawerberry.

Bella, Cleo, and I poured an intense fleeting glare of question. My first urge was to propose, 'Of course not. Rikki was always happy, practically a bitch most times'. But didn't common knowledge irk that the happiest of bitches ended up to be the saddest souls out there?

But, instead, all of us remained alarmingly silent. I waited for them to answer. I hadn't known Rikki too well in the last year of her known life.

"Rikki was the most unique quirky gritty person I had ever met. Sure, she had her moments. We all do. But…she was hardly sad in the last months we knew her…." Cleo piped up, and stared straight to her painted red nails.

"So, is it safe to say she was unusually happy?" Cleo and Bella gulped like they knew something I didn't. But of course they did, they knew so much more about Rikki's life in that year of my absence, but I had misplaced a whole night which was vitally brutal to rest of Rikki's own existence.

Bella squelched. "Sure, maybe she was. But, we were in high school. We all had our ups and our downs… Although, sometimes I did wonder. I mean…well, Rikki knew so many of our secrets, so easy it was to crack us, but… It was so difficult to know what was really going on inside her head…her heart. That's why, I think, sometimes she pretended she didn't have a heart. It was too confusing, maybe, even for her."

Officer Stawerberry grunted, as if, expecting more.

So, Cleo added: "As for the running away part; She never said any real mentions of it. Sure, we'd dream of vacationing to Hawaii and living it up…but not of leaving our entire life behind. And, we never went anywhere where no one would know where we went off too….right?" Cleo referred to Bella and I.

A queasy look threatened Bella's cool. But for me, Rikki never spoke of running away. She was perfectly happy in her place. She only fretted when somebody ruined her perfection. That was why she sent me away. She _forced me _and my family to run away.

"Yeah." I numbly added, followed by Bella's trailing 'Of course'.

And, then the cops went on. They focused on every precise detail Cleo, Bella, and I ever commented at in the interviews right after Rikki went missing. And, of course, even as R's message told us not too, we had to lie about certain things. But I liked to believe it was all for protection. Most times, the cops gave no emotions away, but other times; there was a ticking to their eyes that told us they didn't believe us.

And, for the most part, I kept quiet the whole time, unless the attention was ludicrously directed at me. So, at the end, when Morgan gave of a "You sure this is the exact happenings of that night? Nothing you left out, Emma?"

All I could mumble out was a shivering nod, and for the rest of the day, I would hardly be able to breathe, especially after his last statement.

"I assure you girls, I will find out everything about Rikki's life. I will find out what happened to her. But, I have an itch; You girls know a surprising amount more than you let on. My senses tell me you're lying…but I will find out what those lies are about."

And then, he dismissed us.

. . .

My mind nagged myself at every single pore that seemed to be breaking out in stressing terrors. I tried to believe it was because how, terribly enough, this interrogation had set me off a half hour late of swim training. A half hour away from success in life….success with mysteries, frightening messages, and sinking emotions.

I was about to scamper away from Cleo and Bella; what really, was there to say, when Bella tugged at my arm. "Hold up." Right, she wanted to reunite in possible R mingling? Didn't sound fun. Sounded as fun as the gutted feeling I had possessed obsessing over how my little brother got a girl pregnant, one I didn't even know about, how I got stuck with the blinded burnt girl Rikki banished, how Rikki was still…gone.

"What!" Cleo triggered in an unfitting annoyed tired voice. Maybe, as a sorority girl, she realized things had altered our lives way too much for some all-knowing intruder to come and scramble things up again.

"I…Cleo, didn't you get my text message?" Bella asked. Cleo's eyes went to my missed form of ice, cold, invisibly shattering ice. Cleo must have gotten R messages too…right?

"The…The ones about how we should all meet up…?" Bella corrected, feeling the sting of tension in the air. "Reunite, for Rikki's sake." Cleo gulped, but her eyes softened.

"Must have lost my phone." Was her bitter stark reply. Something was off. Cleo seemed…wrong, detached. "Why should we gush about a dead girl?"

Silence wafted the hallways, as all three of us stood still, all equally shocked by Cleo's words, seemingly enticed with evil knowledge.

Cleo appeared to be about to rearrange her words, say sorry…but then she didn't. And Bella's intense green eyes darkened.

"How can you say that? We don't even know if she's dead…and, if she…if she is, or was… She was still so much more to us than a …dead girl… She changed all of our lives…" Bella's words tumbled out, letting emotions take control of good vocabulary usage.

"Tormented them, Shattered them, sometimes created what seemed to be an entire new one…crafted in total amazement…and then sometimes…she ruined us; Didn't she like to burn us all?" I whispered. It seemed only appropriate.

"I…suppose." Cleo's cheeks sunk in, like she was trying hard not to swallow some terrible deadly poisons that took as knowledge. "She liked…to text, didn't she?" Her voice went shrill.

And, then, we all knew. R was sending us messages. Most would think it would drive us together, determined to find this R's fate, in hope of possessing the truth for the dark happenings of Rikki that wretched night. But, instead of all that close-to-happily-never-after's, our faces went scorned and we sneered.

"Of course, Rikki loved to text…but she wouldn't mess with us like this… She wasn't that terribly mean. She wouldn't play this type of game; We were her best friends." It took me many moments to understand Bella and Cleo were freely talking about…R. I shuddered think about the message about a reunion between us mermaids…

But, we were far from reunited.

"Ones that she constantly loved to torture. This is Rikki's type of game and you know it… She'll twist anything around so we get torn apart inside. That's just the way she was….is." Cleo argued. Bella looked like she didn't want to believe Rikki could be that cruel. We were all absorbed into the personal sufferings Rikki, and all her wraths, we had shared.

"So…we're talking about…R, aren't we?" I asked, feeling deluded out of the group of a lonesome three. Bella and Cleo's frozen troubling eyes glanced and gave me the answer I needed. How could their minds zap thoughts like that?

"What do you know that we don't, Cleo?" Bella took a stand by me. "What happened? I know, we haven't talked that much last year but, you seem different. What makes you think-" She was rudely interrupted.

"No, Bella! Don't question me! You're the one who sent Emma and I messages in the same time period as R-Rikki sent us messages. How don't we know you two aren't working together to make our lives hell!" Cleo was hysterical now, tears drained down her face; I didn't recognize this extent of insanity.

"Me! Why would I want to 'help' anybody send us weird messages! If Rikki's still alive, I would want to help her! We all would! What is going on inside your head, Cleo? Perhaps, she is alive! What if this is her call for help?" Bella flustered away, and I stood, eyes on end.

Before I could add a 'That's a very strange terrible plot to win help', since R had basically told me to screw my guts, I stopped a catfight from erupting.

"Cleo, Bella might be right. But Bella isn't working with Rikki." I tried to calm Cleo's quaking face and Bella's own lost one. But they both screeched; I know that!

And that's exactly what Cleo said. "I know that!" Her eyes severed 'but I have to hate you two anyway'. Something is terribly wrong.

"Don't you even talk to us about missing Rikki or any of that bullshit…because, Emma, the fact that, on the night Rikki disappeared….You followed her, and you not remembering is never going to change. This is all your fault." Tears came splattering, not just from Cleo's eyes, but from mine.

My own self had shed this line a million times before, and to hear someone say it, with so much truth, with so much fiery anger…it made me want to die.

Bella went into a sympathy glare, and slowly pursued to open her mouth, probably about to swallow all of us into a hug. Her look was forgiving and hopeful.

But, Cleo, and her same other angered insanitized self whisked with bitter surreal venganence; "Rikki was afraid of you, Bella." Cleo tapped her shoes away, and left a voyage of mystery.

How she knew that, and the why in the fact itself, was unknown. And as Bella stood, confused, crying, and petrified in her right mind; I couldn't hug her, and tell her Cleo was being silly. I didn't know her, and she didn't know me. We might as well have been strangers….or worse, suspects.

. . .

College life society tittered in breathless shatter as BAM-embarrassing chaos, and the wreak of tomato flushes within my cheeks; I cluttered to the floor, all items had fallen and scattered from my bag, and a boy squared his shoulders and slowly peered at me.

"Hello, beautiful stranger." I look up with a shuddering gulp. Ash. I wanted to hide. Immediately. His cute face as well as the million wars of thoughts I had about his actions at Rikki's Café were too much.

"Hello, Ash. Goodbye, Ash." I rush to pour all my papers into a heap within my bag. As soon as I had fallen, I spring back up and rush away hoping we both will go on with ours lives, if that's what you called them.

But sure enough, he lets out a sickeningly good boy chuckle. "Em, you forgot your phone. And I know a million secrets probably wait in here." I freeze, swiftly turn around and try to grab my phone and it's alarming messages held inside out of his hands. He's taller, and he's holding it over his head as if this is a game of Pickle-In-The-Middle for school children. Although I know school children never wanted what Ash wants.

"Ash. Don't play games with me. Give me my phone." I start to tense up and shout, anxiously. I'm in no mood for this. I'm in no mood to note the rash scary changes within the boy I used to love.

"Not until you forgive me." Ash exclaims, and I feel myself clench my teeth together, slowly losing it. Why would I ever want anything to do with Ash after his rejection of my rejection the other day.

"And why would I do that? Only stupid girls without minds would forgive a guy who was only interested in one thing and then got rejected for not giving it to him." I state, edging myself to stay calm. I have bigger fish to fry. Shit. Rikki used to say that.

"I know. And only stupid boys let themselves act like such wankers." He lowers my phone; his smug smile turning hopeful, and blocks my path to the swimming pool. I sigh.

"Please let me explain." My eyes roll back in a _It's not like I have anything better to do. _He starts. "I was in a really messed up mood, so unlike me.I was pissed off because my parents are so disappointed in me coming to Redleaf instead of my last Uni. And, when I saw you…I just wanted everything to go back to the way it was before. I thought, I guess since we were older…" His eyes zoom in to another story. One I don't want to hear. "Anyways, I was a complete dick…and I'm hoping we can be friends…maybe even a bit more. But, I know; I'm pushing it."

Silence clears the moment's brewing. And I don't know what to say, feel, or do. Honestly, at this moment of life; I simply don't care anymore. Ash is the least of my problems, and I can not find any amount of emotion for what he just said…except bitter sadness.

"Ash… I don't care if we're friends. Okay? I just don't care." I sigh, as I look down at all my fallen things symbolizing how I have fallen, from the Emma Gilbert pedestal to the rotting grounds of living hell. "There are more important things in my life right now." Ash is confused, but my mind still pleads a reckless why-should-I-care-about-any-of-this? "I can't deal with yet another forlorn memory… The flashbacks… They eat you up and spit you out."

My head is dizzy, and all I can manage is to grab all of the fallen pieces of my College life and clutter them within my bag. Ash has lowered my phone, and he looks like a lost puppy. I gently take it, and rush away in the opposite direction I was coming from. There will be no swim practice today, maybe not even other days. This is all just a past life…

As I head to my dorm, I will Charlotte not to be there, to immediately demand a switch…say that I'm crazy and deluded; whatever it takes for her and I to be far, far away, and for this lie of an 'Amelia' to be long gone.

I consider my options as I become face to face with my door's depressing numbers of 213. I am about to open the door and use all my luck to believe Charlotte is either still crying in a campus bathroom or in another lecture. But then, I hear voices. Quiet, but very frantic. What makes me listen is my brother's name.

"I'm not sure-Maybe Elliot should stay out of these secrets. It's not his fault, you know." Then a mention of Cleo and I. "I thought the purpose was to scare Cleo and Emma. To make them apologize and confess." Who's annoyingly know-it-all voice was that?

"But, _Kim, _you just said he deserved to pay for getting Lucy pregnant! You wanted him to pay, and this is the perfect way to." I felt vomit quaking inside of me. I take a deep breathe. It passed. Wait, wait, wait- Charlotte and _Kim _are plotting together to scare Cleo and I? Are they R? Wait, R targeted Bella too…right? Wait, what if Bella was in on it and just pretended to get texts from R? I'm thinking too hard. I need a nap way more now than I ever needed it in Kindergarten.

Not to mention, what exactly is this perfect way to make Elliot, Cleo, and I pay? I slam my ear against the door, hungry for answers.

"I know! I know! I know!" Kim is aggravated. "But Elliot and Lucy's thing is completely different from Emma, Cleo, and Rikki's secrets." How'd they even meet up and start working together? I take deep breathes, trying to maintain a healthy level of sanity. But, nothing is making sense. Or perhaps, it's all making sense. What if Charlotte, Kim, and possibly Bella are all working together as R? That would explain how they seem to stalk Cleo and I so intently.

Suddenly, their voices are hushed. I am nervous, wreaking anxiety, still forcing my ear against the door. Boom. Ouch. I have fallen into my dorm room; Charlotte has opened the door and she is staring at me with a smug eye brow twirl. Where is Kim? Nowhere in sight. I gulp. Did I imagine it all?

"Hello…Emma." Her voice is now unsure, as a blind girl's should be. Ruffles is still by her side, with a growl or two at me. "Here's your mail." I look at the words that wound EMMA GILBERT from LISA GILBERT. How can she see that if the letters are not in brail? Right, Kim must have told her…

"I think it's time we've talked. Don't you think?" I gulp, and manage a nod, irrelevant to the fact that she cannot see.

"I knew there was something familiar about your Amelia character." She smirks in sadness. My eyes trace the outs and ins of our dorm, waiting for Kim to pop out.

"I just…I thought of all the people to get stuck with in this dorm. I thought, it couldn't be true…but, of course, it was." There is a meek silence in the air, and I wonder if I just slipped out if Charlotte would know any better.

"I want us to be…friends, or at least not secretly at each other's throats each second. I know I ruined that certain patch of friendship we could have had. And I know how wrong I was to try and strip you girls of your powers. Clearly, not all of us should be mermaids." I can't believe my ears. Charlotte is half-apologizing? Doesn't she know we burned and blinded her? Does she...not remember?

Or is she acting? Is this all a game? Am I letting her win and destroy me some more? By each second is Kim listening and plotting another humiliating R text? Wait, Kim couldn't possibly know about mermaids, could she? If her and Charlotte were working together, she'd have to know, wouldn't she?

"Clearly. As you know, I'm on the swim team now." Charlotte nods, with a sickeningly plastered smile on her face. "I no longer have that secret, so any type of game or humiliation you want to pull…" I realize I was the one that basically burned Charlotte's face and eyes off. "I mean…yeah, um, maybe we can be friends." I reckon I'm kidding myself but her face is so hopeful. Even though I should know she wants harm done on Cleo and I, it's the least I can do pretending to be her friend… Rikki and I did ruin her life.

"Good. I really want your advice on fashion. I remember you had such good style. You know, maybe you can do my make-up…like we're…like we're sisters. You want to be the bestest sister you can be, right, Emma?" Charlotte now seems revolting in another one of my long lost dark secrets. One that connect myself, my mother, and Rikki.

_"Em, I hope you know I'll always be here. For sharing secrets. For being practically sisters. Thanks…Thanks for letting me stay over." Rikki had said, on the eve after we had burned Charlotte to a crisp._

_ "It's fine. The least I could do…after… Thank you, Rikki. For taking the fall, even though you shouldn't' have… I just wish this night could be permanently erased." We were in my old house, in my room, clambering our golden mist of secrets, and swearing to keep them forever. Before, of course, Rikki found out a secret that binded us together and banished me._

_ "It will be. We'll keep this a secret. I know Cleo and Lewis won't tell. Charlotte will be fine…and anyways, she was…not very nice." It didn't matter if she was nice or not, I silence what came after that. I knew Charlotte shouldn't have gotten burned…but it was my fault. Rikki was only trying to help. "Secrets are what keep friends close anyways. Secrets are the only reason friends stay friends."_

_ I nod slowly, the night's events once again escalating on me. Charlotte. Fire. Screeches. 911 calls. Running away from our lies._

_ "Rikki, I know we're fire and ice and all…but I can't imagine life without you, my friend, Rikki Chadwick. You were there for me…and, I guess this is my awkward way of saying I cherish you as a friend…and life-long secret keeper. We swear this to the grave?" I finish, seeing her blue eyes deviant but expecting._

_ "We swear these secrets to the grave." Rikki answers, eyes lost on my window. As the night pondered upon us, I slipped in a Mean Girls movie to put us at ease. It seemed quite light-hearted; we had just ruined a girl's life…but, I wanted things to go back to normal. But, of course, after tonight nothing would be normal again._

_ I'm not sure the exact time Rikki received the long lost secrets of Rikki and I's bound past. But, soon enough, she checked her phone. A long shocked and tearful expression took hold of her face. She was then hysterical._

_ She slapped me. "You lying little sociopathic mermaid!" Rikki's emotions spiraled out of control. "You knew, didn't you?" Tears. Wetness smearing down her face._

_ "What are you talking about, Rikki? What did I know about?" I asked, still half-asleep, but knowing this was something huge evidently from the slap mark on my face._

_ "OUR MUM WAS A WHORE." Confusion raced through my veins. What was she on about? Is she going mental? "WE'RE BORN 9 FUCKING MONTHS APART. She chose you, because you were the easy one with a rich dad and support… She left me. She's damaged all of us!"_

_ When I don't answer, so riddled in her irrational screeches of anger, she sneers with snot. "And you knew! You knew that she left me and picked you! She chose you because you're her simple daughter with everything planned out…" She shakes her head. "Do you know what it's like to go through your entire life without a mum?"_

_` "Rikki…I don't understand. My mum isn't a whore! Elliot and I are my mum's only kids! You're getting messed up." I answer, but the words are getting slurred in insaneness_

"_AND NOW YOU'RE LYING ABOUT. Ask her, yourself! You can hear all about how she cheated on your dad, and abandoned us on the street! How my whole fucking life got ruined just because our mum had to be selfish, and have the easy expected perfect lifestyle…that didn't include me." Rikki spits. She's off the bed, her eyes red; hair in tangles._

"_No…Rikki." I fumble my mind for some proof, but can not find any. I will every word that's coming from Rikki's mouth to be some ill-fitting lie. But she sounds angry and damn well sure of herself. "It can't be… Mum would never do that."_

_Rikki is about to leave, stamping her heels, when she finally turns back to me. "Leave the Gold Coast, or everyone will know who's really responsible for Charlotte's burn episode. I'll tell your dirty little secret to the world, maybe even that you're a mermaid. So, get the fuck out of this town, and don't ever talk to Cleo or I again. Understand?"_

_ No. No. No! She's going crazy! Nothing about this could possibly be true!_

_ "Rikki…" My voice is weak. "That didn't happen, and even if in some whacky messed up world it did, why are you angry at me?" I stutter, word vomit enticing me._

_ "She chose you. I'll never forgive you or her for that. And that's why you have to leave. If you don't…I might just have to take these secrets to the grave and destroy you…lie by lie." Rikki gathered her belongings, and fleetingly fled through my house and into the dark of the night._

_ When mum, dad, and Elliot got home the next morning…I was forced, by Rikki's constant tick-tick-the-clock-is-going texts to ask mum all about her own lies. She told me all of it. How before I was born; she cheated on dad with one of his colleague's and got pregnant. How when she had the birth, she gave it away; in a good neighborhood, she claims…but, that's how Rikki's dad (adoptive dad) found her and took her into his…little wealth. How just a few weeks after the birth, she found out she was pregnant with me…with dad. I was the reason they stayed together. I was the one she kept, the one she chose…while she left Rikki out to die on the streets._

_ Rikki's dad returned here, and Rikki, Cleo, and I became best friends. It was such a sick coincide, Rikki and I being half-sisters, and being bound as mermaids together. Mum just pretended Rikki was one of my ordinary friends. But, nothing about Rikki was ever ordinary. Rikki's dad came to tell mum as soon as they had moved back here. Rikki never knew…until that night when someone texted her the secret that crashed down to split our friendship apart._

_ I told mum we needed to leave the Gold Coast after that. I told her that Rikki had found out and was going to try and destroy my family's marriage, work, and entire life. I never admitted there was something huge and toxic; a secret, that Rikki had on me. Mum thought it was a great idea to leave, so did Dad. Dad and Elliot thought we were going to explore the world, but we were just running from the secrets that haunted us._

_ That is what I'm still doing. Every single flawed second of the day. Running away from secrets. From the ultimate truth. The truth that might never be found._

"Or…dorm roommates. Whatever rocks your boat." Charlotte adds awkwardly. I realize she's still talking and I'm still staring anywhere but at her, letting my mind stray afar; lost.

"Yeah. That sounds lovely, I reckon." I say, only half-listening. There's too much confusion. Why does Charlotte want to become friends and pretend those disturbing events never happened? Does she genuinely not remember? Of course she remembers, I tell myself. You heard her and Kim talking. Did I? Lines are blurry.

"Yeah, so that's why I was thinking I could invite you to dinner tonight… My treat?" I stare at her like she's just announced she is getting plastic surgery on her feet. Not hating each other or worrying about if we're going to tell each other's secrets to everyone is fine, but conversing in dinner together? Revolting.

"I have reservations at a restaurant in the Gold Coast. My parents are coming. I was hoping maybe you could invite Cleo…tell her I've changed and all…?" Is she bat-eye crazy? She's lying. She has to be. Right?

"Um, why would you want your parents to meet Cleo and I? It's not really like any of us are even friends…now." I say quietly. This dampens Charlotte's spirit.

"Em… It's a dinner to celebrate all the difficulties I've overcome and the fact that I'm now at a college, looking forward to my future. My parents want to meet my friends. And, friends? Former enemies? They're all the same. And I want you and Cleo to be my friends. Don't you think you owe it to me?" For a moment, I believe she sneers. And for a second, I know she knows what Rikki and I did. But then her innocent façade is set up again.

"Yeah. I guess… Um, I'll come, Charlotte. I'll come. But…I can't promise Cleo would find the will in her to come even if she was free of plans in her sorority bashes…" I try to make light of it; a joke even. I pretend this is a new beginning, like Charlotte supposedly wanted. But, all I can hear is Kim's whisper "_the purpose was to scare Cleo and Emma"._

_. . ._

We are in a fancy restaurant. Four of us. As expected, Cleo couldn't even be bothered to answer her phone. But, I didn't blame her. I could so easily picture her stare at the phone's name and offer a confused expression, 'Who's that girl? Oh, yeah! One of my ex-best-friends who share a million dark secrets with me!'. I didn't blame her for not wanting to think about secrets, R, life. They tear us apart inside.

The restaurant is a high-end scale place, and I can't help but notice the delicious waiter named Nic. It's my only distraction from the odd conversation and impressions that are taking forth on this dinner table. I wonder what the entrée is. I have a guess. Me.

Charlotte's mum and dad are separated, but that doesn't seem to bother any of us. What does bother all of us, Charlotte's parents and I is Charlotte's crooked burned scars, and her lifeless eyes. The conversing goes on.

"We are just so proud of our little Char-Char! Aren't we?" Charlotte's mum excites all of us. "You've braved the icy currents and found a new direction." Wasn't it actually an icy current turned fiery…Shut up. Agonizing thoughts. "To Charlotte!" We clink glasses, and I devour in sip fashion much of my Shirley Temple. There will be no alcohol tonight.

I muttered the appropriate response under my breathe, and then the conversation is directed at me. "So, tell me, Emma… How did you two meet?"

I scoff. Does insanity run in the family? Did Charlotte honestly never tell them about the wicked girls that ruined her Gold Coast mermaid life? Okay, maybe delete the mermaid bit…but, did Charlotte keeps secrets too? Aren't they sad that they will never know the absolute truth about how Charlotte got burned? They'll never get closure, I realize sadly. _Unless you confess._

"Oh, you know…" I start, but Charlotte cuts me off. "In College. We're roommates, you know, dad. But, I swear there was something so familiar when I met her. Actually, she at first reminded me of a mean girl in High School." Charlotte's parents are stricken. "But, not to worry, once we bonded over secrets, we were besties, right, Emma?"

What game is she playing? How am I supposed to respond to that? How can she lie that easily? _You've been lying just as well for most of your life. Your entire family. _Where are these thoughts coming from? Do I have an R voice in my head?

"Totally." I say, and direct my attention to the shrimp that needs to be devoured fast or else I might go more insane than I already am. I wonder what mum, dad, and Elliot are doing tonight.

The night carries on, converse hits dull topics, and I eat a grateful scrumptious desert. I was just half-lying about my amazing experiences being a college swimmer when Charlotte screeches. She screeches an out-of-my-mind-screech. Her parents race forward to comfort her. Does this happen often?

I guess not, when she suddenly is throwing the table's contents upon the floor, sobbing, and hitting herself against the wall. Her cries are frantic, "SHE'S BURNING ME! SHE'S BURNING ME! EMMA FROZE ME! THEY'RE EVIL LYING MERMAIDS! MUM, DAD, STOP THEM! Please… They keep lying. They've destroyed me! THEY'VE DESTROYED ME, DON'T YOU SEE!" She convulsing on the floor. I am lost in reactions.

"IT'S HER FAULT. ALL OF THIS IS HER FAULT." Charlotte points at me, and I see a bright terrifying streak of evilness laced with insanity. She knows. Whether not she originally remembered, I have to get out of here. I see the waiter call 911. I see the whole room put into panic. So many people. So many secrets.

I need out. I run. But, not before hearing a specific red-haired girl with amber eyes state so horrifically, _She can't lie anymore. None of them can._

. . .

I was always good at running; also good at lying, secret-keeping. The most perfect example: Two can keep a secret if one of us is dead. Rikki wasn't dead per se, but with no current life, she wasn't exactly alive was she? And, both hell and heaven know, she was the ultimate keeper of secrets. Too bad, she got burned at her own game. That tends to happen when you disappear.

After all this running, I realize where I am. The docks. The docks where Zane's boat used to be located. The docks that set fate on it's course when Cleo got stranded on Zane's boat, and Rikki saved her, and we all found ourselves on Mako, about to take an oath to secrecy. What simple times. What an amazing friendship. Now, too much has been lost. Too much can never be found.

I'm about to steady my options of having a sob fest or heading straight…where? The dorm room I share with the girl I, in truth, blinded? I'm about to choose the latter, when my shawl's pocket vibrates with one single eerie beep. _Beep. Beep. Your doom awaits._

I edge my blue eyes to the screen. One New Message. From: Anonymous. Don't look at it, I tell myself. It's evil. It's a prank. But, I am forced to. It is from another ultimate keeper of secrets.

_**Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I remember when you were just the perfect unbreakable Emma Gilbert. Now, you're practically a ruiner of lives. What separates you from the person who made me disappear? What really happened to me that night you completely blocked out? Find your darling long lost best friend and secret keeper at Mako, tonight, right now. I'm waiting. Look quite carefully within the rocks and jungles of the lost souls, and you'll find Rikki Chadwick. -R**_

**A/N: And, that was the remarkably charmingly distressed chapter of Dying Comes With Lying, first posted in five months, and first posted in this mysterious new year. Be read for a year of secrets, lying, and brutal truths that won't stay hidden. Review if you dare, and you really should. Torturing liars in this story isn't the easiest thing to do (I don't really want to see my favorite mermaids hurt), so go ahead and give me and yourself the satisfaction of submitting a review. –Suzza **


	7. Cleo: The Ugliness Beneath The Skin

**Dying Comes With Lying**

**Copyright WillowSuzzaGleeeee**

**A/N: A new chapter. More lies. More revelations. I'd like to inform you all that this chapter takes place relatively the same time as Emma's (after the cop's interrogation). I hope you remain enthralled by this story, as I get enthralled by all of your reactions. Also: PLEASE READ: An eating disorder storyline/event takes place in this chapter; I, like all people, have insecurities but have never actually gone through an ED, so I, therefore, have no idea what really happens in the mind-set of a person with one. Also, I'd like to note that no age is supposed to weigh a certain weight; your bone/body mass and height have so much more to do with it. Just thought I had to say that. So please; read this chapter and review your heart out.**

**Cleo's POV:**

I had blown up; I blew up my chances of gaining my friendships with Bella and Emma back; I had blown up my anger at how R was wavering all my secrets just above my reach; I had blown up at the world. And, now, I wanted to run away from it.

After fleeing from Bella and Emma's scene of discussing R, and the mysteries that plagued each of us; I knew I couldn't take another second of this Uni and how normal vibes were squeezing away important issues that lied in a dark fallen place of the past: Where was my best friend, possibly more…? Where was Rikki Chadwick?

I fleeted through the halls, out the door, ran along the much-too-green grass, trailed down the path to our sorority house; Zeta Pi. Into the kitchen, I fell to the floor. I knew I could only have my breakdown out in the open if I knew no one was here; a rare occurrence having our lectures at different times.

"Hello? Anyone here?" I call out. There's no answer, and I sigh of relief trying to allow the memories of cocaine being found and pinned to me out of my mind. And after this sigh was over, I started to cry. It was all too much to take. I hated that Rikki was gone. I hated all this change that had stolen my other two friends away. I hated not knowing anything about the secrets I believed I did know, when really, there was a complete different story that was the truth. Whatever that is.

These emotions exasperate me when suddenly I hear a chirp. One of the most evil kinds. A text message. I sit in a lump on the floor, and take it out from my purse… I take a deep breathe, and start wondering if Emma, Bella, and I should be telling the cops about our messages. If it would help. But I knew the secrets contained in the texts for me were too terrible to let anyone else hear them aloud. I couldn't have anyone know I suffered with an eating disorder, or the fact that I was in…in, infatuated with Rikki. (I couldn't be in _love _with a girl, my best friend, now supposedly gone from the world…). Could I?

Flip the phone. Get this over with, I tell myself. I breathe in and out again. Here goes.

Lewis. A message. I smile and start giggling at my paranoia. Not everyone's out to get me… Wait, Lewis. Shit. Lewis who rejected me and didn't want to have sex….why? Because I was drunk? Because we were in the middle of the woods? Now, looking back on it, he made some good points…but, didn't he see I wanted to prove once and for all that I was in love with a boy, Lewis McCartney, my own perpetrator of our geek love (or at least old love)?

_**Morning Beautiful. I was hoping you were now sober and ready to talk to me… Love, Lewis.**_

I smile. Lewis still loves me, or at least, wants me to love him. Not everything is lost. Another message awaits me, luckily, I see it's from Emma.

**Hey, Cleo. :) Charlotte wants us to meet her parents at dinner-a fake friendship type of thing… I know it sounds weird, but please meet us at La Perezia near home, tonight?**

Absolutely not. Charlotte is a jolt from the past I will not undertake again. DELETE MESSAGE.

Until another chirp threatens my sanity. **You have one new message from Unknown Caller.**

I blink my eyes a few times; this isn't what I expected.

**Hey Cleo, it's Zane. ;) I just wanted to let you know that I had loads of fun last night…well, until you-know-what. Anyway, I'm here to stay and want to make sure you know your secrets are definitely not safe with me. –Z**

Wheezing. Breathe in and out. This is how oxygen enters the body that allow you to survive, I tell myself. I place my mind on unicorns, faraway lands, and absolutely not last night. Last night was all wrong… Last night was…

_I was breezing through the trees; floating free, recklessly passing through nothing that really mattered. The wind whipped my hair, and I held on tight to the guy that was driving me into a completely different universe. Another biker was in front of us, and I was twirling to a world I thought could take my secrets and dissolve them into entities that never existed._

_ These bikers were part of the secrets, a fact I was not expecting. And they were very anxious to hear my new lies…_

_ We speed into a large driveway, stop at the entrance. There's a gate. The man I'm clinging to for dear life turns around and gives me the devil's gorgeous smile. He has gotten in front of his friend, and talks into the microphone. "Hey James, it's Zane."_

_ I drop my hands, dead cold, and stare at the helmet that covers his destined-for-trouble face. This is Zane Bennett, the boy who dated Rikki; She broke up with him three months or so before her disappearance. But, they had shared so many more secrets tucked away, beneath the surface, just waiting to be found out. This is the Zane who probably knows all about my past as a teenage-vomitress. This is the Zane who witnessed Rikki and I's blaze of passion._

_I automatically knew I could never ever trust him. He had eyes for trouble… Did I want to be sucked in that whirlwind of exploding chaos? (Like my trouble is a piece of cake…)._

_We ended up parking in a garage. Both Zane and I, and the other biker. I didn't say a word as he officially lifted his helmet, flashed his obnoxious smile, and offered me his hand._

_ "Well, look who it is. Miss Cleo Sertori… Never thought you'd be able to handle a ride of bad boy trouble. Then again, I thought you were into a different type of alluring trouble, one we mutually were hooked on." Zane charms. My mouth won't form words, just painful intrigue; wonder, not the good kind._

_ "Leave her alone, Zane." The other biker reveals his face. And I almost want to start laughing. Will? What in the world were Zane and Will, two sworn enemies, doing dirt biking around, picking up fallen mermaids? Where was Bella? Where was my own self?_

_ "What…Zane, you're supposed to be at Uni in America. And, Will, you're supposed to be sleeping with Bella." I exclaim. I hear a chuckle from Zane. "And, above all, you two are definitely not supposed to be together, riding around looking like deep dark secrets on tires!"_

_ This gives a full round of smirks from all of us, and, as I expected, Will rushes to explain. "Well, I was on vacation, but Zane here, just had to come and strike the fire of memory lane. So, we both politely decided we should come here and pummel each other till the end." Then Will coughs and offers me a smile. "Not my finest moment."_

_ "Uh, actually, Will; we both came here to talk about the not so delightful girl I was, perhaps, in love with, who is now missing. You said you…" Zane eyes me, as he contemplates going on. "You wanted to talk about Rikki."_

_ "But, of course, since Cleo, here has interrupted our heartwarming conversation to be; the real fun should begin. I'm thinking threesome, right, Cleo? Then again, we'd probably both prefer it more if a girl was here instead of fish boy." Zane clucks. I blush, furiously. He's hanging all my secrets he knows right in front of me, like bait that I'm about to tackle. It reminds me all too much of how R ploys us in their texting games._

_ "Zane… And, here I was…thinking you might have possibly grown up." Will steps up to the plate, and takes hold of my arm, as he finishes seriously, "I came here to tell you to stop creating trouble. Rikki's gone, so stop doing these things…" My ears pipe up, just as Will decides to shut his mouth._

_ He had to have been hinting at something secretive…like R? Had Bella told Will about R? How would he have known Zane would be R? Was I just going deliriously crazy?_

_ "What things?" I ask, but suddenly my head is dizzy. I don't want to think. That was the whole reason I got on the motorbike anyways…so I wouldn't have to think. Why am I fighting life, trying so hard to find answers to questions I really don't want to know?_

_ I shake my head. "I mean, can you or one of your many maids get me a drink? Now?" I ask. My mouth is thirsty for a distraction._

_ Zane chuckles. Why do I feel he can see through me? "I have that and something better. Something I'm sure you remember from two years ago… A specific substance that floats us away, as if we're on top of the world. Ready for another snorting session?" Zane clucks._

_ I gasp, and glance at Will. Will has opened his mouth in horror? Disgust? Shock? He takes my hand, and whispers, "Let's just get out of here, okay? I'll take you to your sorority so you don't have to deal with him". I break off his hand, metaphorically, and stand a few feet away from him. From both of them; two guys who seem to think they know everything about me, and what I want and need._

_ "Zane, that sounds…" I blink my eyes. Dizziness. Too many Cosmos. What was I saying? "Lovely. Lovely. Let's get the party st-sharted." I'm starting to slur, which means I'm getting farther and farther away from safety. But these are two boys, one a bad boy, but I have known him my entire life, and then Will, the other, who I knew would protect me from actual evilness. And, Zane wasn't that, right? Unless of course he was responsible for Rikki's disappearance and murdered her…but, I'll put that thought out of my brain as I watch him take out a musty small bag of powder. Fun. Not fun. Wait. What?_

_ "Look, Cleo, come on. We're leaving. You don't want to get fuc-" Will starts. I slap Will's hand away from where it's trying to grab me and pull me away from the choice of cocaine. It's my choice; I don't care about Lewis, the sorority girls, Emma and Bella, or even Rikki… I'm just living, and I'll do it how I want to. I just wish Sari was here to tell me I'm making a hideous decision._

_ "Shut up, Will! Shouldn't you in bed with Bella? Stop telling me how I'm supposed to live my life. You don't know me anymore." I don't know the girl who's speaking in place of me, but I think she's pretty cool…for a bitch. But why is she enabled to speak for me? Right, now with these words said, I'm supposed to wobble a line of high numbness and snort it up…up…up…. Top of the world. No feeling. I am Queen._

_ Within these actions; Zane is clapping and cheering me on another line; I ignore him. Doesn't he see I'm using him? Will is horrified, and with another plead or to, finally leaves. Thank God. As Zane and I finish the powder in the bag, he draws me nearer. I shiver, then slap him away._

_ "Well, thanks for the…" Why am I thanking him? Isn't he ruining my life in away? "Well, um, nice seeing you back here…I guess. Uh, what did you want to know from Will?" I ask quietly. I realize, even in my numb state, I'm hungry for answers. I do deserve them, don't I?_

_ Zane's smile curves. A smirk looks delightful on him, but suddenly I'm missing dresses and tangled hair, and lip-buttered lips, mascara-carved eyes, slender curves of a body… What am I saying? Curls. Oh yes, blonde curls. Shut up, I tell this girl screwing up my thoughts. Or maybe it's black hair… No, blonde curls are probably best. Shut up. What's happening to me?_

_ Right. Zane's talking about Rikki-secrets. I should have been listening._

_ "Will told me he knew so much more about Rikki than any of us. First, I was pretty pissed, because she was _my _girlfriend, you know? I'm sure you could relate to that… Anyway, then he started saying that he could tell me all her secrets for a price. We came here to discuss these arrangements. Not sure what exactly I was searching for… It's just…shit without her. Nothing hopeful or good anymore. Even if I was a complete dick to her…" Zane was babbling. And I had to agree. He was a dick most times. And she was bitch most times. Also, my best friend…and I always had feelings she deserved better… Someone like…like, me?_

_ "Well, fuck that. I'm glad we met up and did our little hedonistic ritual. Not the same without her, but you're okay company…even if you're not gonna blow me." Zane snorts. Why does he find this funny? I just blink. Nod._

_ "Cool…" This cool floated into the night, and I'm not sure what happened in the aftermath of my cool. All I know, was that I woke up in Zane's bed; him gone, me with a headache. And I was late for College lectures. And then the police interrogation, and a whole new day of unraveling secrets._

When I'm taken back to a mind-set of present, I'm on the floor in tears. With a hunger, a deep hunger. And not for answers; What exactly did I block out last night? No, redirection of my thoughts… This stomach pain…ache….aching for a treat. Not a meal time though, eating now would set my stomach off. Diet off; Sorority Rule #3: If the stomach isn't grumbling, the world isn't calling….or something. I think it was supposed to rhyme, but…. Twinkies. I know where there stashed away for break-up comfort food.

I get off my butt, stumble to the third pantry, under the silverware drawer…. Little Debbie's. Marshmallows. Promise to give myself away and just eat. There's nothing wrong with eating. Not anymore. I'm okay. I'm healthy and perfect just the way I am, right? _Ha. Have you seen the mirror lately, Cleo? I know you think acting like his new girlfriend will make him want you back, but you could definitely lose the few extra pounds._

I know that voice. Dreamed, hoped, detested, loved it so many times. And now it's haunting me in the daylight, in the middle of a Twinkie desire. It's not real; I know this. I'll just have one, my stomach whispers. You've been a pro at eating healthy for six months… Nothing's going to kill you. Just. Eat.

Just. Eat. I tell myself this, and with a tear; the Twinkie has fallen out. Gulp. I've devoured it. Delicious, sweet… Another one. Chewing of marshmallow….gone. Yum. A third. A fourth. More and more calories forced into my fragile maintained body. This isn't controlled. I shouldn't be doing this. But, it's all too delicious. One more turns into six more.

I've devoured two boxes of fat. Guess sorority health food hasn't satisfied me as much as I thought after all… There's only one way to get it out. That's what Rikki taught me. Not only does it take away all the fat and make you pretty, desirable, an almost-perfect, but it also takes away all the pain; empties you so you don't have to feel. Not until you faint and everyone asks you what happened. But, the ones who can control themselves never find themselves in that situation…

_It was Junior Year. I was heartbroken, sad, lonely after breaking up with Lewis for reasons that I couldn't admit. I didn't desire him; he was too clingy…yet he left this huge hole in my heart. A feeling of ugly permanently burning in my veins, my smile, my eyes, and the tears that fell from them._

_ I was at home, lonely. Kim was at Lucy's house; Dad was out fishing. I had decided to make myself a batch or so of chocolate cookies. Comfort food. The desire for taste was hard to control at this point._

_ I had been staring out my window and to the water that eventually led to the docks; thinking about love, it's actual meaning, and if we had a say in any of it… Beep. Beep. For once, it wasn't the curse of a phone, but the oven alarming me there was food, a whole other curse in itself._

_ I smiled as I took in the smell, put my mitts on, take the batch out. They're perfect. Just a few more seconds so they'll cool, and I'll devour them whole. The few seconds went by. I ate one, and then another, and another of gooey chocolate-chip savory. On my fifth one, I heard my front porch ding a dong. A visitor._

_ With the cookie in my hand, I open it with my practiced fake smile, ready to fool whoever was waiting. My smile turned real when I saw it was Rikki. My beautiful best friend._

_ "Hey, Rikki!" I gush, happy to have company._

_ "Hi, Cleo." She stumbles in. Is she distraught or am I imagining things? She looks sad, broken even._

_ "What's wrong?" I ask, hoping that Rikki'll maybe confide in me. For once._

_ She just twitches a smile at my innocent brown eyes, and then to the cookie placed in my hand. "Oh, nothing to bother you with. Just….Zane trouble and such." Rikki sighs. I want to know more, convince her she should dump him, but I keep quiet. "Ha," She continues, "_Have you seen the mirror lately, Cleo? I know you think acting like his new girlfriend will make him want you back, but you could definitely lose the few extra pounds_."_

_ What! My brain screams. I'm not getting fat, completely slender. That's what the doctor always says. Why does Rikki think different? I chuckle, acting as if what she said is a joke. I wish it was._

_ "Actually, Rikki, doctor says I'm absolutely slender for my height." I remark. Rikki just shakes her head. Why do her eyes give away a vision of ludicrousness? _

_ "Has the doctor seen you after you broke up with Lewis? I mean, Cleo, as your friend… I've seen the weeks go by, and…well, you're getting bigger and…well, you know." Rikki holds my hand and pats my back, acting supportive. She's the ludicrous one, isn't she?_

_ "Am not!" I shriek, hoping she's kidding. This is all one bizarre joke. I'm pretty, aren't I? I've know I've never been clever, witty, or talented…but I always thought I was pretty, wasn't I?_

_ "Let's see what both the scale and the mirror says." I didn't believe she was serious, but suddenly she was pulling me to my bathroom. My family only had a scale because my dad went on this fishy diet that didn't work at all for a week out of his entire life… We never got rid of it. Rikki pushed me on it. _

_ 133, the scale said. I gulped. At the doctors, six months ago, I was 117. How? Did breaking up with your boyfriend make you an enormous hungry whale? What was wrong with me? I looked at Rikki, hoping she'll say she's wrong, and that this is a fine weight._

_ She just sighed. I looked at the mirror. Cleo Sertori's appearance; tan skin, brown eyes, brown hair, an adorable (fake) smile. Smaller breasts then I really wanted, but what I lacked in that, I made up for in my skinny delicate legs…. Wait. They're gone. Where did the mirror take them? My legs are fat…What happened to them? I shake my head. What did I do?_

_ "It's okay, Cleo." Rikki whispers. "I'm here for you." She held my hand tight; I blabbed more about Lewis with Charlotte, and then she finally left leaving a damaged insecure me behind._

_ Two weeks later, she found me on one of my Twinkie raves. This was when she taught me how to get rid of it all._

You can taste food's delicious contents, and then get rid of it all… All the fat, all the pain, all the insecurities….gone. _That's what Rikki had said. But, as usual, she had lied. The fat was still there, at least; the mirror now said so. The pain was definitely still there, as well as the unknown. And the insecurities were woven with a reliance on my vomiting… I needed it. I needed it to make it through the day. So, for a year and a half, most of meals were placed into the toilet within an hour after me 'devouring' it. Sometimes it helped, but most times, it made everything darker, sadder, uglier._

_ After Rikki disappeared, (as well as Dad and Kim finally confronting me about it), I tried to stop. For the most part, I succeeded. But some days, I needed a little push to through everything.. Six months, I had gone without the bile burning up my throat, erupting into the toilet bowl, reminding me how ugly I was, deep down, even in plain sight. I was just an ugly lying wreck. Would today be a day I broke my path to real health (or at least…that's what they said)?_

When I open my eyes from that flashback of a nightmare, I found myself at the toilet. How had I crawled up here? I looked down at the dirty water; ugly, like…like what used to be me. The girl with all the secrets, but wasn't that girl still me, just hiding away, pretending to be unreal…? R brought her back, didn't she? Did it matter?

"Hello, old friend." I whisper, lower my mouth close to the toilet, and watch all the fat, pain, insecurities, and ugliness come trickling all out…in form of blackish mud. I sat there, breathing deeply for a while, but of course… I had to be intruded on.

"Oh, Cleo." I whip my face and tear-stained eyes to the bathroom door; I didn't shut it, stupid idiot I am. My brown eyes meet Sari's darker than night ones. She looks sad, understanding, but thoroughly disappointed. I tend to disappoint people, usually being the demons inside of my mind.

"Sari…I…What are you doing here?" I rush to denial. This didn't happen. I was in control for so long. What tipped me off? R, and all my old secrets did, my mind answers. I flush the toilet. It takes too long, and Sari already saw what she saw.

"Well, when you didn't come home last night, I got really worried. We all did, actually. You should have seen Renee, wondering if it was her fault…" Sari attempts a smile, but I have trouble believing her words. "Anyway, I came back to see if you were here. I care about you, Cleo. I don't want to see this-see someone as amazing as you hurt yourself." Sari gives me hope, cold defeated hope that I've heard from Dad one too many times. But it's different when Sari says it, isn't it?

"I'm not amazing, Sari." I tell her, and it's the cold hard truth. "Just good at making the world think that I am."

Sari shakes her head. "Why do the most beautiful ones always have to be the damsels in distress?" She says, more to herself than to me. Then she gifts me with her own beauty; a twirl of her perfect pouty lips, a light of her eyes, and offering her hand to me.

"Cleo, I'm definitely staying in your life." Sari says, and I'm confused. "By the time I've finished influencing you, you're gonna know that you're the most amazing girl in the world. Just you wait and see." I laugh at her hope, yet am enthralled at the thought of loving myself. Loving the girl beneath the skin, demons, lies and all.

"Oh, really…?" I laugh for the first real time in a while, and it's not fake or cold or scared or distorted; it's genuine. "And how are you going to do that?"

Sari offers me a devilish smile, and I shiver for a moment. She nears me, and I'm afraid she might slap me, although; why would she do that? What really happens is a curse and gift of reality…a magical spell-binding sweet sparkling firework kiss. Two swift, sweet delicacies placed together, so wrong, so right. Our lips separate, and my eyes question hers. She looks just as surprised by her actions. But, her hand squeezes mine just as tight.

This sweet kiss was not like Lewis's, not like Zane's (in that once-upon-a-disgust-land), but it was innocent, giving, spine-tingling, and giving off sparks of passionate fireworks… But, I shouldn't be thinking this, should I? Rikki was a one what-if a long time ago, but Sari brings up even more questions that I desperately need the answer to.

She's still holding my hand as we walk out of the bathroom. Bonded by life's moments, we tip-toe our heels down to the social-room. Our hands separate now, both of us still unsure. But, we're both smiling, and for once-I see relief flush through Renee's eyes, and soon enough; I'm surrounded by hugs; a desperate urge to turn love (right or not) into an impulse I'll follow.

Love. Cleo. Who knew that these two could mix in such unexpected ways? What if I'm just creating an illusion in my mind? If I am, I want to stay here, right in that almost-happiness I've created for myself. Almost.

. . .

As always, our sorority house is out for some fun, bring along possible-new-sisters, as well. I should have known this, but my mind was on the numb powder, and reckless riding into faraway pasts… We choose a select restaurant near the Gold Coast; my past home, very close to the docks. It's all set, and I decide I won't vomit after this meal. The cycle won't start again.

All of us, many girls, strut along the sidewalk, waiting for our frat boys and our limo to arrive and whisk us away to the restaurant. When both appear, I don't even notice; I'm too busy admiring Sari, right beside me.

Tonight is going to be the first night where I let myself and all the angels I believed were demons fly away. I want to tell myself; no more lies. I'll tell at least one person (Sari) anything. And, I will. Probably. If she asks…

Needless to say, tonight did not go as I planned.

. . .

My sorority just arrived at La Perezia (I pretended I was dumb enough to delete Emma's text from my brain), with a random frat boy in hands. But all I can notice is Sari, and her beautiful red dress. Stunning. Just as the drink I receive is. They believed I was old enough. Lovely. As long as I don't drink too much, and get addicted to this bad influence.

Within the few seconds of mingling, I heard a sharp screech. Plates crashing to the floor. A girl with dark red flamed hair, empty ember eyes, a menace taking forth in her mind. Charlotte. With Emma by her side.

The motions blur by way too fast, and way too slowly. Insanitized agony, truth in Charlotte's eyes. But, I know that something is fatally not right. The screeching wears on. The restaurant is a clutter of shocked faces. I stare.

"SHE'S BURNING ME! SHE'S BURNING ME! EMMA FROZE ME! THEY'RE EVIL LYING MERMAIDS! MUM, DAD, STOP THEM! Please… They keep lying. They've destroyed me! THEY'VE DESTROYED ME, DON'T YOU SEE?" Charlotte has broken the image of sanity, worse part is I half know what she's talking about and partly don't. Rikki burned her; it was a tragic accident, so why is Charlotte saying Emma froze her? Are there more lies to the story? More screeching, definitely.

"IT'S HER FAULT. ALL OF THIS IS HER FAULT." Charlotte wails, and I feel terrible. Is she talking about me? But, no, I see it all too clearly in the guilt found in Emma's eyes… She's running away from the guilt, pretending it all doesn't eat her up inside, but it does.

Emma actually is running, out of the restaurant. I still hear Charlotte's statement: _She can't lie anymore. None of them can._

I run after my ex-best friend, leaving Sari, and all the other sorority girls and frat boys in the dust. I try to keep up with her, but she's fast. Suddenly, my phone beeps a twisted sound. Uh oh.

_**Thank GOD you realized you're getting heavy on the pounds again! I thought it was going to take you forever to figure out that even lesbians don't like fat girls. Anyway, follow Emma (liar#1), and arrive at Mako Island; Your long-lost best friend, Rikki Chadwick is waiting. You know, she's quite terribly impatient…and with nothing to do; secrets commerce and ruin your lives. Happy searching. -R**_

My eyes go wild, but I know I must run after Emma, come face to face with R & Rikki for once and for all. My tired legs hurry after her, and I come to a halt when we find ourselves at the docks. Where all these magical secrets really began. Emma, Bella, and I somehow found ourselves here, staring at the full moon's reflection upon the ocean water; deep and murky, just like lies.

Emma's first to whisper. "We have to do this. We have to find her."

Bella nods, takes me hand, and I link mine to Emma's. "I know." I agree.

Soon enough, we dash into the water. I'm stunned, because even now; the image of Emma wet legs, swimming in the water; all magic banished from her is just too strange to see. Bella and I glance at each other, smile at the familiarity. I refer to Emma and my tail; say she should glide along after me. She takes hold of it, and we swim to Rikki's fate.

What will we find? Do we wish to find it? Will any of this matter in the end? The questions aren't easy to answer, but we spring up to the moon pool's surface anyway. The full moon is so perfectly overhead. I stare at Emma; she's glaring up at it; it seems magic has taken hold of her; a second metamorphosis.

After moments of this magical reawakening, Emma pulls herself up, and helps Bella and I. There's silence and understanding as we dry ourselves. Now, in human form, we search for the truth of the ultimate secret: What happened to our best friend, Rikki Chadwick?

Tip. Tap. It appears we're all wearing heels, but our feet are used to navigating Mako's rocky and scary terrains. I can now jump from rock to rock without fear-I have changed so much from that Spring day where everything changed; my life was never a same, it all just became one ultimate lying game. The one with the most secrets who was alive…always won. I had believed the ultimate winner was Rikki, until she disappeared. But, we were here to find her, weren't we? She was meeting up with us, I knew it. She was going to explain how everything got fucked up, and how everything was going to be perfect and Rikki Chadwick-centric again, and how everything would be right in the world.

Except, that didn't happen. In Mako's jungles, we found a horrific terror of a surprise. Screams. Cries. Faints. As we were unveiled to this ultimate truth, I know nothing in life would ever be the same again.

**A/N: Still a bit of a cliffhanger…sorry, nothing really got resolved except for Cleo's reckless ride into darkness, and her eating disorder. Again, check the first A/N, before you start flaming at me that eating disorders are not like that or that 133 lbs is a perfect weight. Another thing-I'd love to thank all my reviewers, but especially Miss Cocoo Bananas for coming up with the brilliant ideas of Will as one of the bikers, and having Cleo and her sorority house in the same restaurant as Emma and Charlotte and that whole disaster. I can say that she was just a clever predictor that Will was on the dirt bike, but she did give me the great idea for Emma, Cleo, and Bella to all go to Mako, instead of just Emma, as I had originally planned. Anyways, hope you're not extremely pissed I didn't get down to business about what they really found at Mako, but I can promise you'll find out in the next chapter! Review away!**


	8. Bella: The Disappearances Of Loved Ones

**Dying Comes With Lying**

**Copyright WillowSuzzaGleeeee**

**A/N: The big revelation will hit in this eighth chapter, and prepared or not…read on, and get very confused, very mystified, very intrigued. Hopefully. :)  
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**Bella's POV:**

_Rikki was afraid of you, Bella. _The voice whispered in my ear again.

It went on and on, and all I could see was Cleo's terrified eyes, and then how Rikki picked me up from the lows of my life… How could she have been afraid of _me? _Why would Cleo dare say that?

I opened my eyes. Shit. The light's green. I hear a honk behind me, and continue the drive to…home. Where Will and I live, with Sammy, Rob, and Lucas. Where Will will be, and tell me all the reasons why he mysteriously disappeared this morning. I know it.

When I arrive in the driveway, my eyes worry as I realize Will's motorbike Rob convinced him to buy, is still at an absence. I shiver. Maybe Will actually did go on some educational trip and forgot to tell me… Or maybe he's out planning a special surprise for our first day back at Uni, and is going to laugh at how freaked out I got… Or maybe, he's waiting inside, about to kiss me with the passion that lives within us.

My heels tap the ground, and when I twirl the key to unlock my home, it is strangely silent. No rock music booming from Lucas's room, or beauty videos from Sammy's, there was no Rob working on his car in the garage, and I can't feel Will's presence.

"Hello? Will? Are you here?" I ask, as I travel to the living room; absent. Kitchen; absent. I guess I'll ponder our own room, and I am so shocked to what I see; I scream.

Sammy is shuffling through our drawers, and when she sees me; completely freezes in blushes. I gasp, glad it's her and not some evil texter named R, about to suffocate me with my lies.

"Bella! Ohmygosh…Um, I'm just in here… Uh, this is embarrassing, so uh, I was just looking for, you know, condoms… I might need them… Tonight, I, uh, have a date with this…experienced guy." And suddenly I'm laughing. Leave it to Sammy to be looking for condoms while I'm in the middle of a crisis of missing boyfriends.

"Sammy…it's…it's fine." I can't hide my smile. "What guy?" I ask, with large eyes full of intrigue.

"Oh…you know, just one I met at a bar. Apparently, he goes to Redleaf too. And since I looked him up on Facebook to find girls discussing his clever ways of how he gets girls in bed… I just thought I should be prepared. Plus, I know you and Will are huge sex addicts, so you had to have something to protect innocent girls from babies that ruin lives." Sammy explains, with sarcasm lingering. I try to return the joke's smile, but something she said is throwing me off…

"Um, wow, that's cool." I say, even though it isn't. Who wants to date a guy that is known for getting girls in bed? Horny girls… Hmm, and I was doubting Sammy had it in her. But then Charlotte and Emma's interaction pipes within my thoughts. Burned, blinded girl Charlotte who knows Emma, Cleo, and did know Rikki. I wonder how she got burned…

"So, um, you know that girl at lunch…Charlotte, that was her name, right? Uh, is she…" I marvel at how no word describes that adjective I'm looking for. "Sane? Safe? Not weird?"

"Bella, just because she's blind and burned doesn't mean you should treat her different." Sammy's eyes dim, and I feel a vibe of disappointment on her part. "Look, she told me she usually has a really hard time, cause girls always make fun of her…and, well, ruin her life, as she said. But anyways, I just thought we should be nice. I know it's pretty tight around here, but she says her roommate, that Amelia-Emma swimmer girl…? Charlotte says that girl is a mental case."

I bite my lip. Who knows? Emma seems nice enough, but she was the last person to see Rikki, and she doesn't even remember what happened… Convenient. Very convenient. (Not convenient at all).

"I know… But, you're right; it's getting too tight around here, so she should probably continue suffering with Emma. And, plus, I doubt Emma's that bad. But, I mean, really, who would pair them, of all people, together?" As I say this, I realize Sammy doesn't share my inkling that Rikki had something to do with Charlotte's becoming a blind girl.

"Did she tell you how she got burned and blind? Who did that to her?" I ask, and for a moment, another mystery thickens my skull instead of Will's whereabouts.

"Some girls, I think. She didn't say exactly how; She said she didn't remember… Anyways, where's Will?" Sammy asks the question, and I'm threatened by my thoughts. Where is Will? (R probably knows). Don't be silly; Will wouldn't be hurt by R. Right? (Wrong. R probably has it all planned out on how she's going to ruin some mermaid's lives). How do I know R's a she? (You don't. The fun in mysteries…).

While I realize I'm talking to myself; Sammy is still waiting, nonchalantly as possible. Or is that just me? Wait, is R someone I know? (Of course!). Could it be someone I consider a friend…? (What do you think?) Could it be Sammy? Was that why she was supposedly looking for 'condoms'? (…No. Sammy can be a perv and knows absolutely nothing about the broken Bella in High School). Maybe.

"Um, I'm not sure. I've been looking for him all day. I think…if he's not back by five, I'm gonna start searching for him." I answer, away from my mind's troubling conversations with myself.

"Oh, that's…a good idea. I would help, but, uh, I got the date." Sammy replies. I nod, in understanding. "But you should definitely check his favorite places; the coffee shop, his criminal justice class…" I nod, but the twitching of my lip reminds me that he does love that class, just as he loves the coffee, but he doesn't love those places enough to not tell me he's hiding there.

"Yeah." I say, as my eyes hit the floor. I miss Will. And the worst part is, even within the few hours in his disappearance, I know I could never live life without him.

And this worries me. It worries me very much.

. . .

Needless to say, the time of five o'clock came around, and put me into a haunting world where I couldn't find my true love…and I desperately needed him, because without him, I cracked at the edges; my happy girl, Bella image was ruined.

I decided at that moment, where Will was gone, and I was alone; The moment I found him I would confess the hysteria of R, even if it meant telling him the truths I've endlessly tried to hide away. The cutting. The…rape. The…aftermath of the rape. The lies I've tried to forget. I would tell him all of that…if it kept him safe. If it kept him beside me, surrounding me with love.

I knew I had to drive to all his favorite places. When I found Rob in the garage working on his car, I had to confront him, question him; share some of the worry that was throbbing inside of me. Without Will, no one was there to lie to me, and tell me everything was going to be okay. And without this, the stirrings of the cops and the Rikki interrogation, and Cleo's last haunting words were scarring away at me.

"Hey, Rob. Do you, by any chance, know where Will is? I feel like he's disappeared since this morning. Um, did you go off on some criminal justice educational trip, or something?" I ask, trying to remain calm. If only the seesawing emotions inside of me would keep quiet.

"Uh, no, sorry, Bells. Will wasn't at lectures today…" Rob is about to turn back to his holy car, when he stops himself. "Will was talking about planning something special this afternoon with you, so maybe he got caught up." Rob sighs. As do I. Why wouldn't Will tell me where he was? Did he lose his phone?

Rob silences my questions for a moment by stating, "I'm sure he's fine, Bella." I nod, fake a hopeful smile. But, what does sure really mean? How can I be sure? Will is just…gone. At a tragic unexpected moment, I can't find him. Just like how Rikki disappeared. It's been a year and three months since then.

After this, I pile myself into the drivers' seat of my car, on the hunt to my find my true love. First stop: Coffee Shop full of Wella memories.

Only the thing was, being desperate and determined to find someone, didn't make them pop out of nowhere with a reasonable explanation. It would be mighty hard to be a detective, as Will was interested in, because as I searched the coffee shop, Will's favorite diver store, hell, even our favorite restaurant; the Blue Moon. All were empty of butterscotch haired true loves of mine.

So, I walked down the sidewalk full of sadness, anxiety, and fear. I knew the next step would be to call the police, but I would not be known as the girl with a missing best friend and a missing boyfriend. I would not. That would make it appear someone was out to get me…or that I was the somebody out to bring tragedy to everyone I loved. Two things I feared with my entire soul.

As I slowly walk the last steps to my car, I notice the darkening sky. It's getting late; Once I alert the police authorities, I should go straight home. Without Will… Maybe, maybe he's waiting for me there. But why wouldn't he have called?

Suddenly, I hear a shriek. I turn to see a sobbing girl, holding her stomach, falling to the ground. I bite my lip; my inner feelings in an uproar. She's a teenager, no older than seventeen, and she clutches her stomach, right out of the…abortion clinic…and she sobs and sobs.

I shiver. The girl…so lost, so sad, so…like me. I stare at the clinic, and my eyes recognize it. This Planned Parenthood was the closest one to the Gold Coast, where I realized the dreaded fact… I… No. Don't go there. It's a wound you don't want to scratch the surface of. Yet another.

A song starts stirring quickly. Miss Skye's assignment springs all my worries out.

_Lost little girls roam the world, all filled with fear._

_ Too many lost actions, and consequences that will sear_

_ Their dreams away._

_ And suddenly, the one they love is gone,_

_ So, there's no one on this Earth,_

_ Who would dare want to lurk_

_ Into the lost soul of the girl,_

_ Who's desperately afraid of the evil in this world._

The clip of the song disappears, and the girl is picked up by another girl; blonde. I suppose they're best friends, supporting each other through whatever evils take forth on their lives. Even if one of them…got raped; used and hurt, and then fell in love, and then was left with the consequences of either of those acts.

I shiver, yet again, another ghost on my grave; perhaps Rikki, perhaps…another, and it all comes back.

_The girl with her dirty blonde hair, and searing blue eyes, ran; flushed, and a sobbing wreck to the bathroom, to vomit her awakening sickness. Yet again. This girl was a younger Bella Hartley; a younger, much more lost me._

_ As I turned away from the toilet, I knew the test was waiting for me, inside the cabinet. And, I needed these answers now. I never did like not knowing fate's plans, and absolutely detested when fate screwed up my dreams, my heart, and ultimately my life. If fate really did that, perhaps I'll never know._

_ The locked bathroom door was knocked at. Rikki, my most obnoxious, most beautiful, most secretive friend did not like when her own friends kept secrets from her, yet she fed them all with lies. _

_ "Bella! Are you okay! Please tell me you haven't developed an eating disorder like other lost girls I know!" At the time, I didn't hear this. I was only taking out the pregnancy test, reading the directions, and getting ready to take the pee of my life. Step 1: Breathe, and get in squat position. Step 2: Pee the result, and take deep breaths of life altering change. Step 3: See the result, and try to move forward in life with it._

_ "Hold on, Rikki! I just…ate some bad sushi, I guess." I say, done releasing my urine and myself. Now, all I had to do was wait…and get Rikki to stop bitching._

_ "Sushi! When did you eat sushi! We did just have a sleepover, you know! And you've been acting bitchy the entire time… I know as teens with huge secrets, we're a bit hormonal, but you're taking it too far, Bells. I wonder what Will would think of the new…" Rikki went on, and on. But her voice was silenced._

_ Only one word marked my mind for the next many moments. One dreaded result; one mistake; one abusive action; one mystery of a consequence… This crafted the word shown on the test: _Positive.

_I gulped; took a deep breath but the tears fell, and fell, and all I could do was hiccup. My life changed so wretchedly, so out of my control… I missed my control. I knew I was sobbing loud enough for Rikki to hear, but I couldn't focus on anything but my shattered dreams. No more care-free days. No more parties with no consequences. No more happiness gleaming in my eyes. No more of the innocent Bella Hartley. She was gone, and inside her was something growing; something that could have been the result of evil._

_ "Bella!" Rikki kept screaming as I kept crying. I couldn't get up. "Bella! Open this door, right now! What's wrong? I'm…I'm breaking the door with my powers!" Rikki screeched but all I did was cry. What could I say?_

_ Rikki stormed in with annoyance, but the moment she saw me, morning sickness taken hold of me, staring at the test… Her eyes fell to sadness. Rikki raced to my side; She held my hand. She was the one who fed me lies of how it would be okay…if I just never looked back._

_ "Bella! Ohmygosh… You're pregnant." Rikki never stated it as a question. It was a clear truth…one I willed to be a lie. Snob dripping, mascara smearing, heart falling apart, I nodded._

_ "Rikki, I don't…I don't know how this…" I hiccuped in hysteria once again. "Why me! Why did he do this me!" A breakdown was in the brewing. "I don't know if it's Will's, Rikki. We used protection, but, but it's not always one-hundred-percent, right? This could be Will's…right?" I ask, sanity falling, but deep down I know the dark rational view of this situation._

_ "Yeah, Bells. It could be Will's baby inside of you…but either way, this isn't your fault, Bella. You have to know this isn't your fault, okay?" Rikki's own image is a mess. She holds my hand, and sniffles. _

_ "What am I going to do, Rikki! I can't be a mum right now! I have Uni soon…and deep down, I'm just a scared little girl…" Sobs entrance me, and all I can do is try to calm the cascading racing emotions of insanity, pulsing through me. It's getting difficult to breathe and think at the same time._

_ Rikki just nods, and for once, I'm surprised she doesn't have an opinion. She usually would bat off her own take of a solution to any given problem. But for now, she's silent, understanding to the fact; I just need a friend to support me… Even though I have absolutely no clue at all what the future should be, what I want it to be…_

_ Positivity sparks for a moment in me. Will could be the dad. And, he'd be great at it, wouldn't he? We could both still go to Uni, become a family, live together… It could work; I could still be happy. Couldn't I?_

_ "Will… I'm gonna tell Will. Maybe he'll understand. We could live together, take care of it…I mean, the baby. Everything might be okay….right? You'll stick by me through everything, right? Will has to too, right?" I hiccup, in questions. They pierce me away. A tiny voice quivers; _What if things won't be okay? What if you get abandoned, and shatter your own dreams, and get disowned?

_Rikki's blue eyes burn moments after my ramblings. She looks at me, pity soaking in her own tears, and then a tiny release of…anger? She gulps, eyes almost as lost as mine._

_ "No, Bella." Rikki looks pained, as if she doesn't want to tell me the truth. "Will would never want to have to take care of a baby made by a guy who raped you. Neither should you! You can't possibly think of taking care of that evil! Even if you weren't violently raped in that alley, you're still seventeen, and you're still far too lost to take care of anyone else. And Will's careful. The chance of it being his is hardly even there. So…" Rikki closes her eyes, in her own wanderings, until she opens them, and stares at me hard. "Do the right thing, and abort that mini-evil-it."_

_ After that, I was shocked, but everything Rikki said, as my best friend, was taking a hold over me. She was right. There was most likely a baby inside of me from an action of evil, one that had already ruined my life enough. It would shatter my dreams, and Will would abandon me. Common sense told me that, didn't it? The easiest thing to do would be to get an abortion, leave this regretful mistake of meeting an evil man all behind me._

_ So… That's what I did. Rikki and I drove to this clinic; the nearest Planned Parenthood, and planned the appointment of the fetus's death. I tried to tell myself it was a baby crafted by evil. I tried to tell myself it wasn't a baby at all…_

_ But when they vacuumed it out, the tiny piece that could have held the heaven of Will and myself in one; dead, with no chance of life to ever come forth into this world… I cried, and I cried, and I cried. And for weeks after, it never went away. The rape; that one horrible action that shattered my innocence, dreams, and hope… It haunted me forever more._

_ And Rikki was there to witness it all. Maybe if I had paid more attention to the precise things she said, I would notice many more things, but I never did. I was too caught up in my lies. And lies never go away. Sticks and stones tend to break bones, but lies haunt you forever._

The girl is no longer holding her belly, but the blonde; her best friend, is helping her walk into the clinic, where an event will take it's toll. Whether it be a mistake, or a necessity to more forward in life; it'll be a moment she won't ever forget.

It's at this point of my staring, and longing to change the events that happened that dark night at the club, Red Screeches, on that Easter Eve, I quiver at the sound of the beep. I know it is a text message, most probably from the demon of my own demonic lies.

_**Don't lying sluts just love scavenger hunts? I certainly do, and I know one little whore of a mermaid will gladly do whatever I say if she ever wants to see her poor little true love ever again.**_

_**If you tell anyone about lovely little me, Will dies. If you alert the police that he's 'missing', Will dies. If you do any precise action wrong, Will dies. Now, the first instruction of the night is:**_

_**Go visit your favorite clinic, and ask them for the pamphlet 'It's My Abortion', and read it over, you dazzling little whore.**_

_**Have fun. Xoxo –R**_

I gasp, trying to take hold of my sanity. Will is…kidnapped…by R? Could he already be hurt? Would this R really…murder Will? Was R Rikki? But, why would Rikki be as evil to kidnap Will, and set up a scavenger hunt for me? R had to be someone else, right? Did R murder Rikki?

I cleanse away all my questions, and realize the situation at hands. My true love, Will is kidnapped by an evil mystery of a person that knows all my secrets and is threatening to kill him. If I don't do as R says, Will dies.

And then it hits me. As of now, all I have to do to get Will back, is go in and ask for a pamphlet. It's as simple as that. And then I knew, I would be a slave to whatever R told me to do…to have Will back to protect me, hold me, and love me. I would do anything for that.

I gulp, go pass the teenage girl and her friend in the waiting room. I go pass the aisles of girls waiting for fate's decision…or their mistakes, in other people's opinions. Who could really know if it was a mistake? You couldn't, I realize, as I unsteadily confront the woman at the desk.

"Hello. How can Planned Parenthood help you, dear?" The woman asks, with the smile placed on her face like a mustache on doodles.

"Um," I close my eyes, try to hide my scared tears from falling; I squeeze them inside, and bottle them up. "I would like the pamphlet…uh, It's My Abortion, please." I say, and hate myself and my past as she nods and hands it to me. There's a girl crying and a baby dying on the cover

"Is there anything else, hun? Could we set you up an appointment to consider your options?" The woman asks, as if she's desperate for me to let her exterminate all the possible mini-human-beings inside of me I could possibly have.

"Um, no, no thank you." I say, and trace my steps away from the clinic, away from this…mistake, away from all these lost girls about to commit the same one… Away. Away to find my true love, and save him from a secret-keepers menace.

I stand outside the building, and sigh, waiting for the next message I know will come from R. I wait, and I wait… Suddenly, I consider the option R could be just another human being, and not know where I am at all moments. This is comforting.

_**I got the pamphlet, now where is Will? Who are you?**_

I send it off, trying to let myself breathe. But I can only picture Will, suffering, nearing death. I try to will it all away.

A new message. The beep comes, as my dread.

_**Read the pamphlet, slut. You could learn some things. I am your worst nightmare, liar. –R**_

With continuous distrusting glances around, I open the pamphlet, and am baffled, shocked, and fearful by what I find. The original text is written over, and what I find in cut-out letters is this:

_When sluts get themselves raped, and seduce poor fish-boys, God gives the world justice and gives them a baby to try to redeem themselves. A honest slut will tell their fish-boy, be abandoned, and take care of the little squirt, and forget about their dreams. A lying slut will lie to everyone but her crazy beautiful best friend, and kill their baby. These lying sluts pay, so much, they'll wish they could die. _

I start crying, because everything that is being shattered inside of my heart is because I fear R might be right. Maybe I was horrible to abort the baby without knowing if it was Will's. Maybe I was horrible to do it at all. Minutes pass, so I flip the pamphlet on it's back side, searching for something on where Will is.

_Next Order: Visit the Gold Coast and meet up with Sophie at Will's old boat shack, and tell her the truth; that you've always been jealous of her, and that… You killed Will's baby. And then leave a Sophie that wants you murdered. Tick Tock. –R_

I gasp, but know what I have to do. So, it's with this knowledge I get back into my car, with dripping miserable eyes, travel back to the Gold Coast; my old home, near the docks, and park in the nearest parking lot, and get ready to confess the truth, with a lie or two added in.

I close my eyes, knowing that Will must already know the truth if R had kidnapped him. I don't see R not having a big mouth. I know that R is having me screw up my entire life, but it's all for Will. I have to find him. And if I don't, I'd be forever broken. I knock on the door. No answer. Another knock. And another.

A girl opens the door. She has mid-length red hair, solid accusing eyes, and a displeased smile. When she sees me, she raises her eyebrows, and smirks the smirk of death. This is Sophie, Will's sister that he lost touch with…far too long ago.

"Hello, Bella." She says my name as if I'm a cockroach; hideous, and needing to be squashed quickly. "What do I owe the honor of my presence to you for? Is Will… Is Will okay?"

I gulp, try to say something; anything, but all I can do is breathe sadness-laced breaths. I close my eyes as more tears flow astray, just like my heart. "Can I come in, Sophie? I have so many things I have to tell you."

And just like that, Sophie bats her eyes, shrugs, and leads the way for me to come in. Sophie took over Will's boat shack after we left for Uni; She was, apparently, going to start her real life, look to the future of her own success, and not Will's. As I walk in, I realize; all the shells and diving equipment is gone, instead this is Sophie's haven. Will is gone, and Sophie is here.

"Bella, what do you want? Did my brother finally break up with you? Are you here to beg me to make him take you back?" Sophie asks, with ridicule.

"No. I know Will and you haven't talked in ages." I shake my head, and look to the floor. This is the place Will poured water on me, and I ran out. I dove into the water, and he followed, and with that; he found out my first secret. "I'm here to confess some things, because I have to. For Will." I say, and she nods.

"I… I guess I've always been a bit…jealous of you," I lie to Sophie, but what's new? I lie to everyone. "How, um, Will and you were so close, and how he adored you, held you so high, owed everything to you… I just thought you should know that." I was in the middle of a breakdown revealing the fact I aborted a baby that could have been Will's, and I couldn't say it. I knew she would fill me with more shame than I already had.

"Well, Bella, I'm actually not that surprised… I mean, who wouldn't be jealous of me?" Sophie gloats, with a fierce perfect smirk…that soon crumbles. "Actually, Will and I aren't so close anymore, Bella. I'm glad you came…. I thought Will was angry at me… I mean, could you just tell him to call me every week or so…? Please?" I shudder at this sight. Sophie just said please, and is breaking down a moment that states she misses Will.

"I'm…I'm sorry." I reply, just a whisper in the wind of the world. "I wish I could." She stares at me with frightened confused eyes. And I know I can't explain. I can't explain how this R character has stolen all of my sanity and left me as a scared lost little girl.

"The reason I'm here," My cheeks flush as the words pounce out. "I'm really here to tell you that I killed…" I hiccup, and look around for anything but Sophie's judging fearful blue eyes. "I killed Will's baby." I half-lie, and her eyes enter shock. So I turn. I turn and I run, before she can start screaming at me…which I hear in the distance. As I leave the lies and truths left in Will's old boat shack, I look around, tears, glistening, lost as ever…with absolutely no direction. I need Will here. I can't get on without him.

Whatever happened to the strong Bella Hartley? I ask this question as I run the obstacles on the docks, away and farther away… And then I realize. She never existed. Bella Hartley as a honest good person? The idea was so forgotten; such a person couldn't exist.

It's completely dark out tonight, and I notice the full moon in the distance. Full moons are nights of magic, nights of regrets, nights of love, nights of insanity; nights of moments that shape us forever. I know this. I know it's even more so, as I read the last text message of the night.

_**It's the last final task, and if done right, maybe, just maybe, Will will be returned safely… ;) Wait for our old lying mermaid group to meet up at these exact docks, and when they come, swim to Mako, and find Rikki Chadwick. If the bitch isn't found, Will is murdered…starting with his heart. The one that Rikki knew best of all. -R**_

In these moments following the text, I realize who holds all the power. R, whoever this insane vengeful person is; They are an evil genius who holds all our secrets, our insecurities, our fears…just above us in secretive reach. And second by second, R is destroying our belief that there are good people in this world.

Where is Rikki? Does she think about us? Has she gone mad and decided to torture her old friends? Where is Will? Is he suffering somewhere, wishing he could die? Is he still thinking about me? Where are Emma and Cleo? Are they just as lost as I am? Are they going to help me find the lost-Rikki and Will? What tragedy will end tonight? All full moons end in some tragedy or another.

Within moments, I see Emma off in the distance of this dock. I walk towards her, towards shattered dreams, and towards the end. We glance at each other; both having tears shedding secrets away. There's understanding, as I see her own phone out. Cleo, then, taps her heels here slowly. We're all messes. We've all spent this afternoon and evening in wars with our secrets, wars with R. And now, it is our destiny to find Rikki, our lost best friend…wherever she is.

Because she's not evil. She wouldn't kidnap Will. But then again, R knows everything, just as Rikki seemed to. R told of Rikki knowing Will's heart…but, that couldn't be right, could it? I look at Cleo, and remember her words. _Rikki was afraid of you, Bella. _With a sudden last glance at these two girls who hold as many secrets as I do, we all dive into the dark depths of the ocean.

Cleo and I swim as broken mermaids. Emma swims as the girl who lost her way, and found a world without magic. And a world without magic is a world without love. A world without Will is without love… and a world without Rikki is one without magic. And without magic, we're nothing. As good as walking our graves.

When we reach the moon pool's circle of magic, and the moon shines over; forcing captivating energy to change ordinary to extraordinary, to change individuals to a friendship, to change hate to love, and, in the events of this evening, to change life to death. But, before those events, Emma started to glow in that same magical way, and I'm not sure if she even knew it, but I could see things for what they were. Most of the time. Emma had blossomed back into a soul belonging to magic.

But that bombshell was to come. Like many others.

When we walked the terrains of Mako's magic forest, as ex-friends looking for the beautiful missing girls in mysteries do, our heels clacked, and as we didn't say anything; Our fears were out in the open. We didn't know what we were going to find. We didn't know if our best friend would come back, come crying into our arms, finally, to tell her own truths. We didn't know if R was going to reveal him or herself, and come at us with knives.

But, I know one thing for sure. None of us were expecting to find the corpse of Rikki Chadwick; stabbed straight into her chest, straight into the life that will never breathe, laugh, cry, keep secrets, or lie ever again.

I scream.

Emma cries.

Cleo faints.

And then all the secrets and lies take hold and bring me to a breakdown. Emma and I, with a fallen Cleo, sit here throbbing watching the horrific discovery of our best friend. Dead. Gone. Unable to torture us with our secrets. So who was R?

It hits me. The paper from the rocks above hit me.

_**Haha, the bitch and secret keeper is dead! Have fun planning your ex-best-friend's funeral. And who am I…? That's one secret I'll never reveal… -R**_

**A/N: I hope this was as dramatic and horrific as I intended… If not, I'm sorry, but there are many more chapters of drama and horror ahead, so stay tuned. Did you question everything…? Did you? Look deep within yourself, and I promise you... You know who R is. You know who murdered, and I do mean murdered, Rikki. You just can't put it all together yet. Just like these mermaids who tend to lie and keep secrets a lot more than they should. Review your soul out. X)**


	9. Emma: Grief Doesn't Happen, Just Chaos

**Dying Comes With Lying**

**Copyright WillowSuzzaGleeeee**

**A/N: And alas, more secrets and lies for lovely readers to eat up. I assure you, the aftermath of finding a corpse in Rikki Chadwick's title might be uglier than actually finding it. … **

**Emma's POV:**

I'm crying. Bella is screaming. And Cleo just fainted. There's no way to possibly comprehend finding a best friend; a sister's dead corpse in the middle of lies and insanity.

But, somehow, without the processes of shock, pain, anger, depression, and all loss of hope shattering all of us, I managed to shriek, "There's no reception. We'll have to bring her back to the docks and call…call for help…" I sputter. I can hardly breathe, let alone think.

All of Rikki's memories coming at me at once. Meeting her, that day, on the boat with Cleo. Rikki, trying to save Charlotte for me, and then taking the blame. Her look of betrayal when she started to believe I knew our mum chose me instead of her. Then her telling me to leave, or else she'd have to destroy me. It all came back, and suddenly, Cleo is up again…and all we can do, as the lying mermaids we are, as we stare at Rikki's corpse, and R's last message, is cry.

"She can't be dead! She can't!" Cleo says, as she's awakened.

"R must have done this! Ohmygod…" Bella says, and starts to hold Cleo, and they rock back and forth…trying to dissolve this image away. Like it never happened.

Meanwhile, I stare at my half-sister, because that's what she really was, right into her lifeless eyes, still open. For, she was too young to die. This wasn't supposed to happen. I try to tell myself, that she's just gotten stabbed, that we can save her. But, with a touch, I can tell, she's far too cold.

Her life, her soul, her heart, and her secrets are completely gone. Nothing will ever be the same. Rikki Chadwick is dead.

We rock each other, crying, until we pick ourselves up for a moment, and start dragging Rikki's cold deflated body, back into the moon pool. We carry her; me right in front of her head, Cleo and Bella taking her legs, torn of fishnet leggings, and a ripped dress. We swim the fastest we ever have. Yet still… as the blood from Rikki's chest ripples as waves into the water, I can't help but fear there are so many more tears than blood that will forever haunt this water. Rikki will be the haunting of my heart. All of ours.

As we reach the surface of the ocean along the docks, it hits me that Rikki hasn't changed back to a mermaid. So, she really is dead. There's no other way of putting it. Cleo, Bella, and I boost Rikki up, and then reach the docks ourselves, trying to breathe. Out of the corner of my tearing eyes, I see Cleo use her power in a new way; control the water to lift off of her and Bella's mermaid forms-the form I miss with all my heart, and be human again.

Once all human, with emotions wrecking in our souls, I am the first to get my phone and call the police. The call is filled with insanity laced with tears;

"My friend…My friend, Rikki… We found her body at Mako, and brought it to the docks. I think she's dead." As Bella checks Rikki's pulse, she tearfully nods. "We need help because, because… I can't lose her. She's my sister." I whisper, and I hear the annoyingly calm voices telling me it's okay, and that they're on their way. It reminds me so eerily, of how Charlotte was burned and blinded.

It takes seven minutes. Seven minutes of screeching and crying, as we wait for the ambulances to let people out to tell us the dreaded news we already know. Seven minutes, seven minutes of pure agony as I will Rikki to jump up and scream, "Surprise! Miss me, didn't you? I told you that night would be epic!" but she doesn't. She stays still, already gone.

Seven minutes, and when the ambulance people rush with a stretcher, feel her pulse, and start trying to revive her… It takes two seconds for them to turn towards us and announce, "It appears that Rikki Chadwick has been dead for a while. There's nothing we can do." They lift her body on the stretcher, and ask us if we want to ride with her and call her family; her dad, the person that didn't abandon her. All of us shake our heads, because we know the police are going to interrogate us again.

We watch them leave, her corpse on the stretcher that will take her to a cold room, where they study her like a newly discovered animal, and then send her to a funeral home, where they'll put her in a dress, make her look pretty, and bury her in the ground. All the things she didn't want.

The police come after, and as expected, they question us on if we saw anyone at Mako, why we were at Mako, and telling us that they're very sorry we had to find Rikki in that state. Most of their questions, we lied about. We couldn't speak of R. We all knew that, well almost. It almost seemed Cleo was about to speak the truth, when Bella elbowed her. R knew secrets that could destroy us. They couldn't get out, and, alas, we lied to the police.

Once they leave, we are stuck with ourselves; our breaths, our fears, our lies. I gulp, and let out, "I don't think I can go back to my dorm… If Charlotte's there…or even if I'm alone. I can't be alone tonight." I whisper into the night. And, I realize, it's deathly cold. I'm shivering.

"Me neither." Bella whispers back. "I need Will…. I need this friendship back." There's a silence as we all stare in the direction the ambulances were and left, and then she says, "Would you like to stay at the little house Will, I, and a few other friends used to share?" I wonder why she says used, Cleo does too, and looks at Bella for a moment.

"I can't handle another agonizing moment in that sorority house of confusion, so…yeah." Cleo says, a tear sliding down her cheek. "I really missed you both." Warmness fills me. Cleo's not really mad or suspicious of me. And, she misses me.

It occurs to me, so strangely, I'm afraid. Rikki brought us together. In life, and in death. "I missed you too." I reply.

"Emma?" Bella asks, and at first I'm confused. What is she asking? And, then I realize. She wants me to stay in the house that was originally for Bella, Cleo, Will, Lewis, and Rikki.

"It'll be like a sleepover." Bella comments. "Like old times." She stares at Cleo, who nods, a broken smile. We've lost Rikki, and yet found each other.

"I'd love to." I answer. The tears, the hurt, the loss; it's all still there. And yet, it's true. I do want to belong to something again. I want to have best friends to experience the ups, the downs, the evil, the good, and to share secrets. Beautifully dark secrets. And, it's almost as if Bella and Cleo have reunited, and offered me that. And, I'm delightful in saying yes, even in the absence of Rikki.

Cleo slowly lets out a broken smile. In the night of the deepest darkness, with friends…perhaps, we can find the light even if a crazy stalker-texter wants us to pay. "Us mermaids need to stick together." Cleo points out, and Bella and I nod. And somehow, this night has left me tingling.

Until I note I'm not a mermaid anymore. It won't ever be the same. "Yeah. But, I'm no mermaid anymore…" I add to their hope of reunited mermaid friendship.

Bella shakes her head. "So what? We all don't want to be alone tonight. We all miss each other in a way. And, we all just found our dead best friend, and are being harassed by some crazy inane R person. Therefore, I have reason to believe we should stick together…" Bella concludes. But, I can't help but notice how she glances back at her phone each second, with fear.

Well, why shouldn't we be scared? R is out to make us pay for our secrets.

So, with hands connected, we all clamber in Bella's car, leaving our present lives behind, as well as their new lies. We drive back to the surrounding area of Redleaf's campus, and arrive at a lovely little cottage where, astoundingly enough, Bella, Will, and some friends live at.

When we sneak into the darkly-lit hallways ongoing from the front door, Bella assures Cleo and I of the silence. "I'm pretty sure my friend, Sammy is staying at some guy's place. And Rob and Lucas are probably asleep. Um, there's something I have to tell you two about Will."

We travel deeper into the house, and Bella is about to go on about this Will I've yet to meet, and then offer us her and Will's room. But, something stops us, distracts us, with an eerie noise. Water. Water's running. Coming from the bathroom. All three of us stare at each other, suddenly frightened we've arrived in a horror movie for the second time this night.

Bella leads the way, then Cleo, and then an outsider of myself. What we find causes Bella to screech. Cleo gasps. Tears both wrench them to pieces. All I see, with my blurry eyesight of tragedy, is a vaguely familiar butterscotch-haired boy set in the tub, with a blue face, drowning.

"Will! Ohmygod." Bella screeches, and Cleo looks as if hysteria has hit her. They both quickly carry him from the water, but his eyes are closed. Without any care of her or Cleo's mermaid transformation, Bella nears her fingers to his neck, willing a pulse to be there. She's starting to cry, screeching at Will, "Please don't leave me! I love you…"

That's when a miracle happens. This Will starts coughing up water, as he tries to sit up, and suddenly, he's here. There's one less tragedy on this Earth for the moment. Bella sighs of so much relief, and in her tear-laced eyes, wheezes, "You're here! I have no idea what I would of done if I lost you." And then, they hug, they kiss, and they whisper to each other as they both cry.

It's in the remaining moments of their soppiness, that I look down at my legs, and realize this is a new for me in the last year and three months. There lies an orange tale of lies, and a orange bikini top, laced in scales of secrecy. Here I am, once again a mermaid.

Cleo rejoices. "Ohmygosh! Em! Look at your tail!" A smile takes over me, even if today has been one of the hardest darkest days of my life. Tonight, I got some sort of closure over my best friend of a half-sister. Tonight, I was reunited with one of my best friends, and found another. Tonight, I belonged. All three tails, I waddle closer, finally feeling invited.

Will looks at me with confusion, but then nods. He's Bella's boyfriend, and he definitely knows a few of our secrets, I realize as he looks down at our tails. Then he sits up, Bella already a grateful girl putty in his hands.

"Girls, Will… R told me that she, he, they, or it… R said that they had Will, and that they would kill him if I didn't do exactly as R said." Then Bella turns to Will. "I'm so sorry my secrets hurt you. There's this R person, who's intent on getting all of us. Em, Cleo, and me. And tonight, tonight, I was desperate looking for you, and we ended up finding Rikki dead! And Ohmygod… Will… I love you so much, I knew life without you would be terrible… I was so scared." Bella explains, and Will's face is full of horror.

"Rikki? Rikki's… Rikki's dead…?" He closes his eyes, and tries to tell those tears he's trying to hide to go away. "She… She was so strong. I thought that… I thought that she could survive anything." Will tries to find some reason, but there's none left. "How'd she die? Where did you find her?" He's hungry for answers, in a complete mess.

"There was a knife stabbed in her…in her heart." Cleo responds, as another tear drops upon the universe.

"We found her at Mako. This R told us to go there and find her." I answer, and Will goes through a process, of shock, anger, and hatred.

"R? Who the fuck is R?" Will lets his emotions wreak. Then he stares at me, "You're Emma. The other mermaid, I see. The girl who supposedly can't remember what happened to Rikki! This is your-"

Bella stops Will. "No, Will. Emma's being just as harassed as Cleo and I. She's just as scared. What…Who did this to you? Who tried to drown you?" Bella whispers, and Will's eyes crack. He holds his head, as if trying to remember.

"I had to pee. I was… I was at Campus. You just went to your songwriting class…" Bella nods. Cleo takes a deep breath. I just bite my lip. "And when I got out of the bathroom, something hit me. Something knocked me out. When….When I woke up, I was here. Somebody was holding me down, in all black. I couldn't tell who. I guess…I guess they left after I passed out again." Will says, appearing incomplete in not knowing who the person was.

"It's okay. You'll just tell the police all of this." Bella soothes him. "They can help." She adds. Cleo looks at me, her eyes look scared, still. Is it just me or is she sending me a vibe of don't-trust-everyone-you-meet?

"No, it's not okay! The police don't fucking help! They don't do anything. They didn't find Rikki. They didn't save her! And now… I can't just watch the police take control, and watch all you girls end up dead because some stalker who knew your secrets killed you! I can't." Will freaks out, and there are slow tears from his eyes.

"Will's right. We can't… I can't tell the police about R. R knows some things…about Charlotte, about secrets that could ruin me, and my family. We can't tell them." I whisper into the darkness of mermaid tails, cold water, and secrets that sizzle.

Bella gulps. "Maybe…Maybe you two are right. The secrets R knows…" She closes her eyes and shudders.

Cleo nods. "They're right. R will ruin us whether the police know or not…. If we anger R, especially by telling the police… Who knows what R could do? R already almost drowned Will…and what about Rikki? What if R did that?" Cleo frets.

Then, Bella shakes her head. "What if R did? We can't risk that happening again. And if the police know, they'll help." Bella tries to rationalize. But, I can't tell…

"No, Bella. I'll protect you all. The police won't. Let me trace back where this R's messages came from-" Will is stopped.

"No, Will!" Bella screeches, then tries to breathe. "I mean… Let's just ignore R. If we don't let R get to us, then we'll be fine. We could even block unknown numbers."

"Yeah." Cleo and I both agree. And it occurs to me, they both must have secrets just as dark as I do… And that means, they've lied to me. And, I actually probably don't know as much as I thought about them. Or, I don't know anything at all…that isn't lies.

"Okay." Bella sighs of relief. "Now that this is settled, we should go to the police station and file yet another report." Bella says, and I bite my lip at their intertwined fingers.

"Yeah, definitely. I want whoever this R punk is to get found and put in jail for harassing you girls...but not by endangering you girls by telling the police. I'll just tell what happened to me. Hey, Bells, can I see these R messages? Maybe we can find some hints from who it's from." Will offers.

"No, Will!" We all scream, and the obviousness of how we're all lying hits me yet again. Then Bella goes on, "Really, we've already looked at them. R doesn't talk about who she or he is. Just harasses us." Will looks hurt, as if he wants to steal our phones, and hunt down R and kill him or her.

"Fine." Will says. I can't help but notice his pissed off expression. "Bells, you've had enough trouble for one night. Stay here with the girls. I'll drive myself to the police and tell them what happened. Kay, Bella?" Will coaxes her into staying here where she won't find anymore drama for the night.

"Okay, Will." They kiss each other again and again. Cleo looks at me with a smirk. I don't try to hide my smile. I decide I do like Will. I've seen him before somewhere… Probably in a photograph or something. "Be safe." Bella whispers, and then he leaves the cottage.

We all sigh. "Tough night." Cleo comments. And then, suddenly, we're all giggling in tears because tonight has been the perfect ride of craziness, that brought us together…finally. And, I doubt we'll ever abandon each other again. I hope. If our lies don't get in the way…

. . .

Later, in the wee hours of the dark night, as we all hold hands, trying to daze off in Will and Bella's former bed, Bella alerts us that after Will gave the police a statement, they sent Will to the hospital to make sure he really was okay in the health department. This wakens us up for a bit, so much that we start to fret enough to reveal our fears, and our secrets.

"Guys… Who do you think R is? Now that we know…we know Rikki's gone, but…But all the things R taunts me about are things only Rikki knew…" I say into the darkness and will Cleo or Bella to come up with a reasonable explanation to this R madness.

"It has to be someone Rikki told everything to, right? But…I don't know who that could be. And I don't know who would want to torture us like this." Bella whispers back, trying to theorize.

"I do. Our mermaid enemies include the demon doctor, Denman, …Charlotte, and… Zane must have known stuff about Rikki and us. And, this seems like the thing he would do, right? Wasn't he closest to her other than us? Who knows what she told him?" Cleo starts drilling out the possibilities. I gulp. It's an insane possibility, but not completely impossible.

"Maybe." I say, but I can't full grasp it. "But, I've known Zane all my life. Sure, he's troubled, but after he got with Rikki, he didn't hate us."

"And then Rikki broke up with him and disappeared. Maybe, in some weird way, he blames us for her disappearance…I mean, death…now, I guess." Cleo gulps at the switch of words. Then her eyes darken. "Maybe Zane even…even killed her."

This stuns all of us to a silence. "He did go away right after she disappeared." Bella concludes with suspicion.

"Yeah, but… But, I'm pretty sure I heard Charlotte and Kim talking about scaring Cleo and I." I add to the suspicion.

"What do you mean by pretty sure?" Cleo says, after a momentary gasp at wondering if her sister could be this cruel.

"I mean, I heard their voices, but when Charlotte let me in… Kim was out of sight." I say.

Cleo bites her lip, quizzically raveling in the theories. Then she lets out, "No. Even with a blind Charlotte, my sister isn't that smart, and she doesn't have enough time to stalk us. Neither of them do or can. I have this weird feeling it's Zane. I mean…he was there when something happened…you know, one of my secrets."

Bella nods. "And Charlotte doesn't even know me that much and has no reason to want to harass me, well, as far as I know. Guys… We honestly didn't know much about Rikki. Other than this one secret, the only one she shared with us… I bet Rikki hid a lot. Maybe she even hid who she told our secrets to. What if we don't actually know R, but R is watching us?"

All of us bask in the silence, all unsure on theories and what to believe. Then Bella's quiet voice retorts, "Guys…If we do actually want to stick together… Maybe," I hate her for saying this. "Maybe we should tell each other…the secrets R has on us. Other than being mermaids." A shiver is exchanged through all of us.

I gulp. "I'm not so sure. I…can't." I say in defeat. I've longed to tell someone-anyone who wouldn't judge me all the horrific secrets that were held inside of me. But I couldn't.

Bella bites her lip. "We'll promise not to judge each other, no matter what…?" Bella questions us.

Cleo and I exchange a look. We're both drop-dead…. We're both frightened. And a look to Bella tells me she's in that same dread and fear. "Yeah." Cleo and I both say, bitterly, as all of us stare at the walls.

"You first." I look to Bella, realizing I don't really know much about her. Sure, she's a mermaid with a talent for singing…or so I heard. What lied in her deepest darkest desires, or worse her secrets?

Bella closes her eyes for a moment, and gulps. Her hand starts hesitating by her arm, going through mild panic and then… "Rikki knew I had these." She rolls her shirt sleeves up, and in the darkness, I struggle to see what she's talking about. When I look carefully, I see eerily etched scars marking down her wrist and other parts of her arm.

It's hard for Cleo to refrain her gasp. "This is the big secret R has on you?" Cleo says. And I recognize something in her voice. Disbelief. It's true…I thought R knew all our mortal sins… Then, another thought creeps in. Maybe, Bella's just a better person, and doesn't have any mortal sins. Meh, unlikely, I decide, looking at her face in full panic. Suddenly she gulps, and forces a smile.

"Yeah. I was, um, depressed, needing attention, scared…" Bella almost loses herself in a daydream. "But, that's it." I take close note of the way her eyes dilate, and then look at the space between Cleo and I. That's a lying quirk.

"Cleo's turn." I whisper, and both girl's eyes fill with slight annoyance. Cleo's is also filled with fear that we won't accept her secret.

"I'm…" Cleo glances at both of us. "I think I…" She twitches her lip and looks for another thing to say, "I mean, Rikki teased…" Suddenly, anger throbs within her eyes. "Lewis didn't want to have sex with me. He won't. Rikki always teased me about that. Now, Emma tell your secret. This is so stupid." She mumbles under her breath.

I recognize yet another thing inside of her, well two; a liar's charm of rushing, as well as a fire I didn't know my old friend, Cleo had. It newly developed. She was hiding things she didn't wish to hide, and it made her angry. Just like me.

What was I going to lie about now? It's my turn. "Uh, Rikki forced me to leave after Junior Year. She blamed me, I guess, for what happened…with Charlotte." I say. Silence defines the room.

Cleo is talking now. "Bella, you shouldn't have hurt yourself. You're amazing, and I know it's an attention thing but… I was always jealous of you. I was always jealous of everyone. I wanted Rikki's wit, Bella's voice, Emma's confidence… I couldn't find anything good about myself. Probably why Lewis rejected me."

Bella and I are stunned. "Don't say that, Cleo! Maybe he just wasn't ready…" I offer. Then I add, "I mean, I've never had sex."

And suddenly, Bella and Cleo are giggling at me. "Well, of course you haven't! You're Miss Responsible Emma!" Then Cleo's eyes slide at Bella. "What about the girl with the beautiful voice? Has she lured Will to do the dirty as the siren she is? And don't lie. You live together." Cleo and I are both smitten.

Bella's eyes darken, then she smiles…until she frowns. "Um, yeah, Will and I… It's…lovely, I guess." She sighs, and seems exhausted by this topic.

"How was your first time?" I wonder. Secretly, I'm hungry for sex knowledge. There's more than self-respect as my reasoning for rejecting Ash.

Bella's eyes flicker to horror, and for a moment, tears sparkle in her eyes. "Crap. Like most times are. Look, I don't think we should be talking about first times when we just found Rikki dead and some insane R person is out to get us!" Bella is annoyed, severely.

"Yeah." Cleo realizes and quiets. "I wish I could say I know a lot about sisterhood," I grimace at Cleo's words, "but, honestly, the only sisterhood I cherish is the one I had with both of you…and Rikki. I think we should make a mermaid oath. To always stay friends, and look out for each other…"

And Bella and I both smile at each other for the first time, and with our nods, "The mermaid secrecy oath! To protect, keep secrets, and always stay friends!" And it was with these last words being said, we fell into a careless sleep where we actually believed things would be better in the morning.

. . .

The next morning, we got a beep of reality, when we found R's latest messages taunting us in all of our rooms.

_**I know what you all were doing last night. **__**Stop guessing. I'm so many steps ahead of you lying little mermaids. And even worse, I'm right under your secret-stuffed-up noses, and you don't even see it. –R**_

Another jolt of the hysteria of sadness hit us, when right after the look shared by all of us-fear, dread, hatred, anger, we received a call from Terry Chadwick, inviting us to come along and help plan Rikki's…funeral.

The conversation was horrid.

"Uh, hello?"

"Hi Emma. It's Terry Chadwick, Rikki's, you know, dad. The one who took care of her." I was shocked into silence, "I'm so sorry to hear you, Cleo, and Bella were the ones to find Rikki…like that. Um, I know it's a bit early but I'd like to talk about Rikki." Dread fills me.

"Oh, no, Mr. Chadwick, it's fine. I think we all couldn't sleep. And, it was…It was really not easy to find her like that, so what…What do you want to talk about?" I tried to sound nice. The best friend that Rikki had loved…before she set out to destroy me.

"Well, Emma, are you by any chance in contact with the other girls-Rikki's friends right now?" He asked. I wondered how many stages of grieving he'd gone through yet.

"Yeah. Cleo and Bella are actually right here beside me." I say, trying to be cheerful, but I can sense it both annoys me and Mr. Chadwick.

"That's good. Today, at two, could you girls by any chance meet me up at the Creekside Church? We're planning Rikki's funeral…and well, I guess I know you girls know more about what she'd like then me. She loved you all, and I know she would want you to, uh, cherish her until the absolute end." Mr. Chadwick grunts, with an edge in his voice.

I gasp. They're planning Rikki's funeral already? And then it hits me that Rikki's been gone for over a year…and finally, she has been found, and slight truth has been revealed…if only we knew what really happened.

"Uh, yeah, of course, Mr. Chadwick. Thanks so much for letting us be there." I reply, after explaining the situation to Cleo and Bella. Then I gulp. "Have the police told you anything… About, about how Rikki died?"

"The paramedics say she was murdered. Stabbed…" I can hear the tension through the phone that Mr. Chadwick might be in the middle of a breakdown. "Stabbed 13 times, they say." I can hear his sob, and suddenly I'm crying. "There's no trace of who did it. Not on the knife…not anywhere."

"Just get the girls and yourself to meet at the church, okay? Rikki needs you." Mr. Chadwick says at last. And then the phone goes dead. Just like Rikki did.

. . .

We arrive at the church like the funeral has already taken place. But, really, we know Rikki liked black…and she would laugh at girly-girl, Cleo, and practical-loving me, as well as Bella…for some reason.

Will came home from the hospital in the morning. He had wanted to come with us-stating that he was just as much a friend to Rikki as we were. And a slight disturbing thoughts creeps us. Rikki would have much rather preferred him there than me. She hated me in the moments before…her death.

When we go inside the chapel, we see two priests sitting by Rikki's…adoptive dad, consoling him, telling him the legendary words of 'Sorry for your loss' and 'God has a greater plan for her in heaven'. Ha. Who knew Rikki was supposedly Catholic? Then, I feel remorse for thinking such a thing.

"Cleo! Bella! Emma! Please gather here." Mr. Chadwick exclaims, causing us to rush forward to where they sit, holding hands as best friends do. Then Mr. Chadwick whispers something to the priests. They smile sadly at us, and take out their hands. "Father Henry" and "Father Ty" are among the things they say to us.

"Now, I know Rikki would like all of you to say something …here. So, I believe we should have you all give a speech-" Mr. Chadwick starts but is cut off by Cleo.

"A speech?" Cleo asks timidly, suddenly terrified.

"Yes, just talking about how Rikki affected your life, and how much you love her and miss her." Father Ty explains, the same sad smile shaping his appearance.

I bite my lip. I had always loved writing speeches. They were apart of my highest achievements-other than swimming. Shit. Swimming. I couldn't swim anymore yet again, because of this second mermaid metamorphosis. Right, back to the problem at hand. I really didn't like writing speeches about dead ex-best-friends/half sisters who hated me.

"Of course." Bella answers, and ideas fill her head. "Uh, Mr. Chadwick, could I, please, possibly sing a song for Rikki's…funeral?" She charms the idea. "I think Rikki would have loved that." She adds.

Mr. Chadwick smiles, slowly at first. "Of course, Bella."

Bella gains a little ounce of hope in this whole situation, that is weakened by Father Henry's, "Just make sure you run it by us and Mr. Chadwick first. We want something respectable and appropriate for the occasion." He lectures.

Ha. Like Rikki was respectable and appropriate. …Sadness possesses me.

Bella nods, her mind seemingly in the midst of ideas. Meanwhile, I start throbbing in the turmoil of thinking of what I'm supposed to say about Rikki… It's too hard to ignore the horrific image of how we found her, and how mysterious and unexplainable this tragedy is, and focus on the good times…while there were so little.

The rest of the meeting is a blur. Bella speaks of songs she would like to sing such as Slipped Away by Avril Lavigne, and Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. The priests and Mr. Chadwick frown upon Hide and Seek. It wasn't as if Rikki was hiding…right? She was murdered… I realize how unbelievable this really is. Three years past, if you were to tell me these chaos unfold, I never would have thought it possible…. And yet here we are, in the middle of grief.

This can't be happening.

Somehow, Mr. Chadwick, the priests, and us former best friends finished the meeting with sadness and promises to come to the wake which would be in three days. Three days until I have to say goodbye…? What possibly could I ever say?

Would mum be coming to the funeral-her daughter's funeral? Would Zane, the most obvious suspect of being R? Would the media have news cameras, trying to turn a tragedy into an obsession? Was Rikki happy-wherever she was, or was she angry, seeking vengeance on the ones she left behind…? The one who killed her, and the one who might have watched her murder…? The one and only me?

For some strange reason, both Cleo and Bella deemed themselves incapable of life until they relieved themselves by peeing. So, I just waited. I wondered if Rikki actually could watch us, if she was laughing like she enjoyed doing, or if she was crying… So many times had tears fell from my eyes in that funeral planning.

I whisper out into the church's aura, "I loved you, Rikki. Even if you hated me. Even if you still do." I closed my eyes, and let the sobs take over. "I had always wanted a sister." I snort in irony of the whole wretched thing.

Next comes the beep that has repeatedly signaled a mermaid's doom. But, multiple ones now. And when I look at the caller ID, it's from Mum. I flip my phone and listen to the terror.

"Emma, I know we're not speaking a lot now, and I heard about Rikki…. My poor girl…" Mum sobs, until hopping back on the topic of new terror. "Elliot and his girlfriend, Lucy, you know, the one with the baby, they've been hit by a car." Mum sputters, "Please come to the hospital. We need you."

I gasp. Soon enough Cleo and Bella come out to my crumbling; complete defeat. Rikki, my half sister, my best friend, is dead. And now Elliot might be too? And a mini-person of our bloodline? No. No! Why did this happen! Rikki was a complete bitch sometimes, but she shouldn't have died! Why can't I remember what happened that night! And why is R so intent of destroying us all inside?

I spit out the recalling of my Mum's calls in tears, and all about how Elliot has grown up, and got a girl, Lucy, pregnant. Bella picks me up, holds my hand, and says she's coming with me. Cleo agrees. For a moment, my heart starts to calm and stop the reckless panicking that was going on inside of my trauma-induced mind. Until my phone beeped again.

The text was from a devil named R.

_**Can Miss Emma Gilbert take on two sibling's funerals? I'm happy to say I don't believe you'll be having a little niece or nephew...alive, at least. ;) –R**_

**A/N: Thank you all for reading. :D Be sure to review and go to your heart's extent of obsession, anticipation, perhaps even hatred (but I like this one least of all). Share your theories, share your questioning. Share your awesomeness, because, in fact, that is what reviewers do. xD**

_**And what will happen to poor little Emma and her poor little brother? Only time can tell. But I know I'm anticipating going to all of the funerals to happen with faux sadness on my face while I plot, plot, and plot more distress for these little lying mermaids. They need to start telling the truth or else my fun will go on and on. -R**_


End file.
